Trans students deserve schools they can trust – Trump’s agenda is making that impossible
As a Trans man and the founder of Destination Tomorrow, I have seen firsthand what happens when protections disappear and trust in institutions erodes
Schools are meant to be spaces of belonging, trust and community. They are an environment for children to expand understanding and challenge assumptions. It is precisely this ethos that is under threat as attacks on Transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) students continue across the United States.
A week ago, the US Department of Education (DOE) threatened to withhold federal funding from school districts in Maryland and Michigan over policies protecting students’ gender identity. These policies allow school staff to maintain the confidentiality of gender identity when doing so protects students’ well-being. The DOE argued that this violates federal law and parental rights, while the districts maintain they are necessary to protect children. We must ask ourselves: what does it mean when the national agency created to support and protect public education is pressuring schools to abandon the very principles that allow students to feel safe?
Teachers and administrators have always played a role in students’ lives and well-being. Education is built on trust, and pupils need to know that the adults around them will support and protect them. Policies that force educators to choose between supporting their students or complying with political demands undermine the very foundation that makes schools successful.
Our trans communities are suffering under the policies of President Donald Trump’s administration
Confidentiality exists for a reason. Not every student lives in a home where they are accepted, understood and protected. For many TGNC students, school is one of the only places where they can show up as their authentic selves.
No policy targeting TGNC youth will change a child’s identity for the same reason no amount of political pressure has ever been able to dictate who someone is. Instead, these policies create an environment of fear where people do not seek help when they need it most.
Removing these protections does not strengthen schools or families. It pushes vulnerable young people further into isolation. Schools need to be safe spaces. As reported by The Trevor Project, 86 per cent of TGNC youth said the recent onslaught of anti-Trans legislation made them feel unsafe. When LGBTQ+ youth were asked why they did not seek mental health care, 44 per cent said they did not want to receive a parent or caregiver’s permission, and 19 per cent said they did not want to receive virtual care in their homes.
Our trans communities are suffering under the policies of president Donald Trump’s administration. The United States Department of Justice subpoenaed hospitals over providing gender-affirming care to Trans youth. Trans people are currently barred from enlisting in the military. The US Supreme Court blocked citizens from choosing their gender markers on passports.
Across the communities I work with, I am hearing the same thing: the need for support is growing
As a Trans man and the founder of Destination Tomorrow, a US nonprofit providing wraparound services for LGBTQ+ communities, I have seen firsthand what happens when protections disappear and trust in institutions erodes.
The rights being stripped away from TGNC people are the same ones many of us have spent years fighting for. Across the communities I work with, I am hearing the same thing: the need for support is growing. People are afraid, and the institutions meant to serve them are increasingly being weaponised against them.
Service providers and nonprofits can offer support, but they cannot replace the trust and protections that public institutions should guarantee. I know what it means to have access to spaces and services where you feel respected, and I know the fear and isolation that comes when those spaces are threatened.
We cannot decide that safety and privacy belong only to some
Make no mistake: these attacks on Trans communities are not isolated. They reflect a broader use of executive authority to target communities with less political power and fewer protections. Immigrant communities are living under the constant threat of ICE brutality and family separation. Women across the country are facing growing barriers to safe reproductive healthcare. Low-income families are grappling with cuts to programmes they rely on to meet their basic needs.
The question before us is whether rights and dignity are treated as fundamental values or privileges to be granted and taken away.
Rights do not exist because they are written into law. They exist when institutions defend them and communities uphold them. We cannot decide that safety and privacy belong only to some. The measure of our society is not how we treat those who have power or belong to the majority. It is how we protect, defend and stand with vulnerable communities when they need us most.
Sean Ebony Coleman is the founder and CEO of Destination Tomorrow, one of the US’s leading LGBTQ community centres, providing wraparound services including housing, workforce development, health initiatives, and youth programming across multiple cities.