New data illustrates ‘Trump effect’ on LGBTQ Americans

Nearly half of LGBTQ people report “being less out somewhere in their lives” — including the workplace, healthcare settings, and public spaces — since President Donald Trump returned to office a year ago, according to a new survey first shared with MS NOW.

The data, released Thursday, comes from the Annual LGBTQ+ Community Survey conducted by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, an advocacy organization.

The survey of more than 14,000 Americans — two-thirds of whom identified as LGBTQ — paints a bleak picture of their lives in Trump’s first year back in office. The president and other federal officials have, among other actions:

• moved to end federal recognition of transgender and nonbinary people;
• sought to ban transgender troops from the military;
• cancelled hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of research focused on LGBTQ peoples’ experiences;
• announced a slate of actions aimed at eradicating gender-affirming care for trans youth;
• shut down a hotline for LGBTQ youth at risk of suicide;
• and ended gender-affirming care coverage for federal workers.

The survey findings suggest these actions are having major impacts on the climate of acceptance for LGBTQ Americans and their everyday lives. Nearly 30% of LGBTQ adults said social acceptance has declined over the past year.

When it comes to health care, two-thirds of trans and nonbinary adults reported difficulty accessing health care due to policies imposed by the Trump administration. About a third of LGBTQ adults who have experienced health care discrimination said their health has worsened over the past year.

Despite the significant role LGBTQ people play in the American economy — spending more than $1 trillion annually and starting businesses in records numbers — the survey suggests they are being further marginalized in the workplace following Trump’s executive orders seeking to ban diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Nearly 40% said their employers made at least one DEI-related change in the past year, and more than 57% of LGBTQ workers at those companies reported experiencing stigma and bias at work.

LGBTQ Americans have also been disproportionately impacted by some of Trump’s economic policies, including cuts to food stamps, which 15% of LGBTQ adults, or nearly 2.1 million people, rely on, and Medicaid, which LGBTQ people are nearly twice as likely to use for health insurance compared to non-LGBTQ people, according to the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law. The survey found that LGBTQ adults were nearly twice as likely as non-LGBTQ adults to say their financial situation worsened over the past year.

The data provides rare insight into the experiences of LGBTQ people under the second Trump administration, given that the federal government has pulled back on collecting data on LGBTQ peoples’ experiences following an executive order Trump signed on his first day back in office.

“LGBTQ+ Americans are deeply hurting,” Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson told MS NOW. “Still, for all the pain Trump has caused, the LGBTQ+ community’s resilience drives our power. Together, we continue to fight for a future in which everyone has the freedom to be who they are.”