Trans and nonbinary Americans express their fears after Trump's election

The reelection of Donald Trump has left many transgender and nonbinary people across the US feeling a sense of unease — and sometimes outright fear — that his administration will accelerate the yearslong conservative campaign for states to block gender-affirming care, which is headed to the Supreme Court next month. The GOP made gender a building block of its 2024 platform, and Trump has vowed to enact a slew of federal restrictions on trans youth and adults — piling on the wave of anti-trans laws that are already being passed and proposed at the state level.

In the weeks leading up to the presidential election, CNN sent disposable cameras to 10 transgender and nonbinary people across the US to document all aspects of their lives.

Here’s what they told CNN about the current political climate:

• Taylor Alxndr: The 31-year-old has become a fixture of Atlanta’s drag scene and cofounded the nonprofit Southern Fried Queer Pride. It’s one of the organizations already mobilizing ahead of Trump’s inauguration, hoping to help transgender Southerners get access to hormone replacement therapy, name and gender changes before January.

“These last eight years from both administrations and all the powers that be have just really exhausted trans people,” Alxndr said, noting that even under President Joe Biden, conservative lawmakers have pushed a wave of anti-trans laws. “Looking to the next four years, it just feels even more exhausting. Like, ‘What’s next? What’s the next hurdle that we have to go through?’”

A strip of pictures from a photo booth shows Taylor Alxndr and their husband, Lawrence, a fellow drag artist. 

Taylor Alxndr

• Ruby Stabreit: In the wake of Trump’s victory, 19-year-old Stabreit has been helping other trans people legally change their names and gender markers ahead of Trump’s inauguration. As an aspiring wildland firefighter from Columbus, Ohio, his instinct is to go toward the problem, not away from it.

“There’s a reason I’m working in firefighting and emergency services. When everyone else feels an intense amount of despair or distress, I kick into high gear,” he said.

Ruby Stabreit flexes in a mirror. "I love my arms. I love them very much,” Stabreit said. 

Ruby Stabreit

• Kellen Sapp: Trump’s reelection has left Sapp, a 21-year-old from Norman, Oklahoma, with “terrifying” doubts over what his administration may do to block trans health care, she said. She also fears the rise in anti-trans rhetoric among some conservatives may put trans people’s safety at risk.

“It’s kind of hard right now to claim my love for Oklahoma, Missouri, or this country,” she said.

Kellen Sapp sings in her church choir and also plays in its bell choir. “If we are fearfully and wonderfully made in God's image, then surely my transness must be part of that,” Sapp said. 

Kellen Sapp