M

artin Martucci had been wearing men’s clothes for years. But it was only when he was volunteering at a local museum as a tour guide and adults started using male pronouns that he considered he might be transgender.

Martucci, a freshman architecture major at Syracuse University, formally came to that conclusion in December 2014. Many of those close to him have long been supportive — at the beginning, whenever friends used the wrong name or pronouns, they would donate a quarter to a jar.

But now, in 2017, Martucci finds himself worried about his basic rights because of his gender identity. With Donald Trump’s recent inauguration as the 45th president of the United States, Martucci, like other members of the LGBTQ community, is unsure about the future of LGBTQ issues, such as transgender bathroom laws and same-sex marriage.

Some concerns among the LGBTQ community stem from Trump’s selection of former Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his vice president, given Pence’s controversial record on LGBTQ issues. Yet while experts said there is reason for alarm — especially for the transgender community — they also pointed out it is unlikely that gains already made will be taken away.

David Rayside, a professor of political science and sexual diversity studies at the University of Toronto, said he thinks the Trump administration isn’t likely to pursue much legislation related to LGBTQ issues — what’s more significant, he said, is what the administration won’t do.

“They probably won’t intervene to counteract conservative states in enacting anti-gay or anti-trans* policies,” Rayside said. “… States that are already conservative in sexuality issues (will remain that way). And obviously American foreign policy had been prepared about LGBT rights internationally, and that’s not going to happen under a Trump administration.”

Michael Sherry, a professor of history at Northwestern University, said it’s unlikely the Supreme Court would overturn its groundbreaking 2015 federal rule that allows for same-sex couples to legally marry. Even if the Supreme Court was reconstituted with all new justices, overturning recent federal decisions is uncommon, he said.

Still, Trump’s rise to power has alarmed many within the LGBTQ community, as it took Trump almost no time to take action from the Oval Office. The White House’s webpage dedicated to LGBTQ rights was removed from the website on Inauguration Day.

Trump has also acted on his desire to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare,” signing an executive order to lessen regulatory requirements. So far, the Affordable Care Act has helped provide health insurance for 20 million people, per a Department of Health and Human Services Report.

The act has mandates specifically for LGBTQ people — such as to make sure people are not denied coverage because of conditions such as HIV and AIDS — and that plans purchased through the marketplace can’t discriminate based on gender identity or sexual orientation.

If Trump’s administration decides to fully repeal “Obamacare,” LGBTQ people — especially members of the transgender community — will be at a loss, said Deborah Coolhart, an assistant professor of marriage and family therapy at SU. Many transgender individuals have been hurrying recently to finish surgeries, she said, but a student in need of surgery or documents changed in the next four years might be in trouble.

“We are on the verge of getting surgeries covered by insurance, allowing trans* people to use (their chosen) bathroom,” Coolhart said. “I think they are going to be halted. I am worried about that sector.”

Martucci added that if Trump decides to repeal Obama’s 2016 executive order requiring public schools to allow students to use the bathroom of their gender identity, transgender students would be “screwed.”

“There’s transgender people who pass as the gender they are presenting, (and) have an advantage over others who don’t,” Martucci said. “There’s some trans* people, who, you would look at them and you wouldn’t know. Some are not as good chameleons.”

Yet Trump has also been named one of the most accepting Republicans for LGBTQ rights.

In April 2016, Trump said transgender individuals should be allowed to use the restroom they feel most comfortable with. He was responding to a question about North Carolina’s controversial H.B. 2 bathroom law, which requires people to use the bathroom that matches their sex at birth, regardless of gender identity.

Trump has employed gay employees, attended gay weddings and donated to the AIDS crisis in the late 1980s and early ‘90s. Fourteen percent of LGBTQ voters even voted for Trump, according to NBC News.

LGBTQ activists are skeptical of Trump’s endorsements, though, largely because of who he has chosen to help him lead in his administration, starting with his selection of Pence as vice president.

Pence called for using federal funds for institutions that helped individuals looking to “change their sexual behavior” in his 2000 campaign for Congress, which was widely interpreted as an endorsement of conversion therapy. Conversion therapy is a discredited method designed to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Pence did not mention conversion therapy during the 2016 campaign.

On Pence’s 2000 campaign website, he also said homosexuality was incompatible with military service and opposed Congress legalizing same-sex marriage.

Trump has also appointed several others to his cabinet who have expressed anti-LGBTQ views, including Jeff Sessions, Steve Bannon and Betsy DeVos. Robin Riley, director of the LGBTQ Studies program at SU, said in an email that the new administration should be a concern not just to LGBTQ people but to all citizens.

“The changes he has indicated that he wants to make along with the beliefs of his cabinet appointees should worry all of us about what life will be like for the many of us who are not white, able-bodied, heterosexual, male and affluent,” Riley said.

Martucci said that even if Congress found reasons to impeach Trump, that might not be the best solution.

“They already have things that they could impeach him for,” Martucci said. “But I also kind of don’t want them to impeach him because then, Mike Pence would be president, and that would be worse.”

Coolhart, who has worked with transgender patients, said many are fearful, disappointed and heartbroken with Trump’s election and cabinet appointments. But what’s also scary, she said, is that Trump’s success has legitimized hate and discrimination.

“It’s not just Trump — it’s that about half of the voters voted for him,” Coolhart said. “We’re looking at each other wondering, ‘Who is against us?’”

If there is one positive change coming from Trump’s rise to power, it’s that people are coming together, said Fatima El-Tayeb, director of the critical gender studies program at the University of California, San Diego, in an email. Trump’s administration seems hostile to all forms of equality and sustainability, she said, which means many groups of people have reason to be concerned and form coalitions to fight back.

LGBTQ centers have opened their arms to provide support, even to those who don’t identify as LGBTQ. Tiffany Gray, director of SU’s LGBT Resource Center, said that no student is asked to self-identify when they come, and that this helps create a community and family atmosphere in the house. Even if a student never attends a discussion meeting, just the existence of the center could be enough for some people, she said.

At CNY Pride, a group that looks to serve members of the LGBTQ community in central New York, President Bob Forbes said there have been post-election meetings to allow people to cry, share their thoughts and take comfort in the fact that others were just as lost. It’s a time to be strong, Forbes said, and “look at the grassroots.”

But solidarity among LGBTQ people can only do so much. For Martucci and other members of that community, Trump’s presidency has added a layer of uncertainty as well as questions that only the president’s actions over the next four years will answer.

“A lot of people might live in their echo-chamber world, where they think that certain things won’t apply to them, but it will affect other people,” Martucci said. “Other people will die. Other people will be discriminated against. Other people will be harassed. It’s important.”

Published on January 24, 2017 at 11:31 pm

Contact Haley: hykim100@syr.edu