‘We won’t be erased’: Valley trans residents display resilience amid political headwinds

THE CENTRAL VALLEY’S LGBTQ+ community is once again learning what a difference a presidential administration makes. And it’s adapting.

Since Donald Trump returned to the White House last month, his administration has unleashed a wave of anti-transgender, anti-diversity and anti-inclusive policies that have made daily life — and legal decisions — more complicated, and frightening, for transgender and nonbinary people.

“I do feel that fear,” said Takoda Blaze, a 34-year-old Stockton-based trans man. “For the first time in a very long time, I was fearful of entering the bathroom … Entering the men’s bathroom like I have done thousands of times, it was the first time I carried fear of anything happening…. There’s the risk of being hurt, being beat, being raped, being — so many different things, and that fear is real.”

On day one of his presidency, Trump signed an executive order declaring that the United States government only recognizes two genders — male and female — which are locked in at birth and cannot be legally changed. His administration has since stripped federal websites of all references to transgender people and their history, including references to them on the Stonewall National Monument, the nation’s first U.S. Monument dedicated to LGBTQ+ rights.

In his address to Congress this month, he boasted about banning trans people from competing in school sports and blocking funding for gender-affirming care for trans youth. He has also stopped transgender and nonbinary people from serving in the military and from having their federal government documents reflect their gender identities.

In the Central Valley, this has caused concern and confusion. While many local advocates said that trans and other gender non-conforming people still have broad protection from the state, the Trump administration’s campaign against transgender rights has made navigating this moment difficult for many.

“Every hour on the hour, we have to check to see if there’s anything else that’s been signed or done just to see what’s next,” said Roman Scanlon, executive director of CalPride Stanislaus. “There’s a big fear of the unknown, and I think this is what’s causing a lot of the stress on the LGBT community.”

Recommendations for passports, IDs

CalPride runs nonprofit LGBTQ+ centers in Modesto, Merced and Sonora, which offer an array of free services. Including peer and group support, health and STI testing, harm reduction substance use treatment and gender-affirming care.

Megan Weidman, a program assistant at CalPride, said the number of people asking for help with name or gender-marker paperwork has doubled since the start of the year. The requirements can be complicated, as each change request requires a different form and fee. Weidman has a two-inch “name-change binder” she uses to help people navigate the process.

The high demand caused by Trump’s order has led to longer wait times to have paperwork approved. Scanlon said documents filed at the start of the year have still not been returned. Still, he encourages those seeking changes who have lived in California for longer than six months to go forward with the paperwork for state-administered documents, including gender marker, name change and birth certificate.

But the same advice does not apply for federal documentation. Filing for a new passport or renewing an expired one should be delayed, if possible, he said. The U.S. State Department has stopped issuing “X” gender markers and stated it will “only issue passports with an M or F sex marker that match the customer’s biological sex at birth.”

Even high-profile celebrities, like 26-year-old actress Hunter Schafer, who transitioned as a teenager, have run into passport problems. Schafer, a star of the hit HBO series “Euphoria,” spoke out last month when her new passport (which replaced one that had been stolen) was returned with a “M” gender marker instead of the “F” she had before.

“Every hour on the hour, we have to check to see if there’s anything else that’s been signed or done just to see what’s next. … I think this is what’s causing a lot of the stress on the LGBT community.”

Roman Scanlon, CalPride Stanislaus

Valley LGBTQ+ group leaders have heard reports of local people having their gender markers changed and experiencing difficulty getting their supporting documentation back from the federal government. Carrying official paperwork that does not match one’s gender identity can have serious consequences.

“It creates a really dangerous space because ultimately you’re being outed at that point, right?” said Blaze, who works as the health equity director at Stockton’s Central Valley Gender Health & Wellness. “As much as a trans person would prefer to pass in community, having those two markers not match is just like a target on your back. As if we weren’t already targeted, now it’s like a bull’s eye just pinpointing you out.”

Many fear for safety, worry about violence

Those safety worries are compounded by a rise in hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people in recent years, according to an FBI report released last fall. While violent crime overall was down from 2022 to 2023, incidents based on sexual-orientation and gender-identity bias were up 8.6%.

For area trans and gender-nonconforming people, those statistics are more than scary, there is proof that the possibility of violence against them is growing.

“We are definitely under attack,” said June Sparrow, vice president of MoPride, a longtime grassroots LGBTQ+ resource center in Modesto. “Even if we are protected by California laws, the growing community that is against us is growing more bold, more violent, and that is certainly a worry that affects many trans people.”

The 41-year-old Modesto resident identifies as gender fluid, and said they don’t feel comfortable going to unfamiliar places or walking alone downtown at night anymore.

Sparrow said Trump’s language and actions are vilifying the trans community. Even the title of Trump’s day-one executive order — “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” — characterizes the move as a necessary measure to protect the public, they said.

“Unfortunately, it’s easier to get votes through hate,” Sparrow said. “You give people a common enemy. You make it about the children. You say it’s a matter of public safety and health. You do all the things that one would do to dehumanize and erase. And I think we’re an easy target because we’re one of the most vulnerable and marginalized communities.”

Advocacy groups vow continued support, resources

Transgender people make about 1.3% of the U.S. Adult population, according to a Gallup Poll released in February. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study released in October found that trans youth faced higher rates of violence, discrimination and suicidal thoughts than their classmates who are cisgender (meaning their gender identity matches their gender at birth).

More than a quarter, or 26%, of trans or questioning students had attempted suicide in the last year, according to the CDC. The rate for non-trans students was 11% for cisgender girls and 5% for cisgender boys. Even more trans and questioning students, an estimated 40%, said they were bullied at school, compared to 20.3% and 14.8% for cis female and male students respectively.

In last November’s presidential election, every Valley county from San Joaquin to Fresno voted for Trump over Kamala Harris, even as a majority of California voters overall voted for the former vice president.

In early February, three people — a 44-year-old man and two juveniles — were arrested for allegedly beating a gay man outside an apartment complex in Jamestown. Shortly after, residents in neighboring Sonora packed a city council meeting to demand accountability and condemnation of the attack.

Still despite the fear of violence, and of self harm, Valley LGBTQ+ leaders said they remain as committed as ever to providing the community with resources and respect. Like CalPride and MoPride, Stockton nonprofit Central Valley Gender Health & Wellness offers services that include support groups, gender-affirming clinics and free clothes closets.

The group’s founder and executive director, Cymone Reyes, said the most immediate concern is making sure the Valley’s LGBTQ+ community knows their doors are open and that help is available.

Reyes said people who have faced harassment, assault or other violent incidents should contact the group for help connecting with services and law enforcement.

“We won’t be erased,” said Reyes, a trans woman who has worked in LGBTQ+ advocacy for the past 30 years. “I mean, this isn’t the first time that our community has been targeted and the subject of being basically annihilated or removed from existence – as they wish to do. And so we’ll get through this together, and that’s the important part. … Never feel that you have to do that alone.”

Marijke Rowland is the senior health equity reporter for The Intersection, a project of the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative.

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