LGBTQ in the Trump era

Alphie Zeng, a Petaluma 17-year-old, has dreams of enlisting as a medic in the U.S. Army. For the Casa Grande High School student, it’s a passion sparked by a deep yearning to aid those in need.

“I wanted to be the person out there to help those who needed it the most – not just our own soldiers, but also civilians out there who are caught in the crossfire,” said Zeng, whose birth name is Amber and identifies as having a non-binary gender.

But, a series of three tweets unleashed by President Donald Trump July 26 proclaiming that transgender people will not be “accepted or allowed” in the U.S. military cast a shadow of uncertainty over Zeng’s plans.

“Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail,” he wrote.

Zeng hopes to one day transition into a male gender.

“It’s difficult knowing that I’m not going to be welcome in a place where I’m going to save people,” Zeng said. “I’m not going there for the rush of war – I’m not going there for anything of that magnitude – I’m going there to help people who need it. For Trump and his administration to just say ‘No, you’re a capable human being but we don’t want you,’ it’s insane.”

Trump’s decision reportedly came as a surprise even to Department of Defense officials, who informed the military that the ban would not be implemented until official guidance is received from the president. Other prominent military voices have since come out opposing the ban, which would reverse a 2016 decision to allow openly transgender people to serve in the military and undergo transitions while enlisted.

A 2016 RAND Corporation study found that allowing openly transgender people to serve would have “minimal impact on readiness and health care costs,” increasing costs by .13 percent. Some 2,000 to 11,000 active-duty troops are transgender, according to the study.

Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, whose district includes Petaluma, slammed Trump’s tweet.

“This is not about budget savings or social experiments, it’s about Americans who want to serve their country and being blocked by President Trump – who is, meanwhile, cheering billions of dollars in unneeded Pentagon spending and pushing a health care bill that would take health care from hundreds of thousands of veterans,” he wrote in a Facebook post.

Trump’s rhetoric sent shock waves across Petaluma’s LGBTQ community, riling Gabe Kearney, the first openly gay man to serve on Petaluma’s city council. A longtime activist, he entered the public forum at 16, when he addressed the city council in favor of a plan to offer benefits to employees’ domestic partners.

“Any time a government official or an entity takes a stance that’s singling out or attacking anyone in the community, it has an impact,” he said. “Even if there’s no change to the policy of how the county is handling trans folks, just the fact that a president who has never served in the military is attacking people that are part of that community – it’s demoralizing.”

The most recent policy direction wasn’t the first time the Trumps administration has sent unsettling signals to the LGBTQ community despite his promise to support that demographic. In February, the administration rolled back federal guidelines specifying that transgender students have the right to use the public school restrooms that match their gender identity. Last month, the Department of Justice filed court papers arguing that a major civil rights law does not prohibit discrimination against gay and bisexual employees.

Those moves and other statements from Trumps’ administration have caused anguish and trepidation for local activist Susan Gilbert, who has long facilitated the Positive Images support group for local LGBT teens.

“On a daily basis, both me and my friends waver between calm acceptance of the fact that we have to allow the judicial process to play out and the investigations to go forward in order to regain our sanity because we’re obviously the enemies of this current administration and the other half of that coin is that we are pulling our hair out on a daily basis,” she said.

With previous administrations, she said beneficial steps were taken to boost the community.

“There was a lot less violence and abusive language against us because we were seen in the eyes of the leaders of our county as being full-fledged citizens,” she said. “And so when policies are enacted that affirm our humanity rather than deny our humanity, we have a healthier LGBTQ population and fewer suicide attempts and victims of violence. It’s all a trickle down.”

For Petaluma-based marriage and family therapist Dianna Grayer, who penned a play that explores struggles and triumphs in the lives of eight LGBTQ characters, embracing her own identity and fighting for the preservation of civil rights serves as a rallying cry.

“The Trump situation is not good in the community – everyone is up in arms and upset and angry but the call out is not to roll over and play dead – we have to stay strong and we have to be alive and willing to fight for our rights. It’s very disturbing to all of us. I just keep doing what I’m doing … I’m an advocate, I’m stepping in as a lesbian black woman to say ‘no, my freedom is my freedom and I have a right, it’s my human right.’”

Kearney highlighted Petaluma’s own commitment to fostering diversity - from policy decisions made by local officials to day-to-day policing - as a sharp contrast to the tone from the White House.

“Thankfully, we live in a community and an area where people of all walks of life, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations and genders will be treated respectfully,” he said. “I’d like to think that will continue in Petaluma, regardless of who is president.”

(Contact Hannah Beausang at hannah.beausang@arguscourier.com.)