169. Trump Watch 2025

Snarky Opener (0:00)

Cue my scream of fury into the dismal abyss of "democracy."

Episode Introduction (0:25)

Hello, my LGBTQuties, and welcome back to another episode of A Jaded Gay. I'm Rob Loveless, and today I'm a non-jaded gay because the past couple months, I felt really inspired to do more with the brand, since it's expanding to be more than just a podcast.

And so, I've taken the first steps to start transitioning A Jaded Gay into an actual small business, and I'm actually in the process of becoming an LLC.

So, I'm really excited about what this next chapter brings, and hopefully it's something exciting, because apparently 2026 is supposed to be a big year of change and success for Geminis.

Fingers crossed. Here's hoping.

Housekeeping (0:57)

And since this is the first episode back following my much-needed winter break, I wanted to do some housekeeping up front.

So, as a reminder, we have our Discord server, The LGBTQuties lounge, so we can keep the conversation going after the episodes. Now it's a little quiet in there.

So, if you're a Discord user, I'd love it if you'd enter the lounge, so we can chat it up together. You know, I love hearing from all of you, whether it's feedback, topic ideas, or just saying hi.

So even if you don't use Discord, you can also send me an email rob@ajadedgay.com.

And also, I cannot believe it, but April is going to be the four-year anniversary of A Jaded Gay, and I want to do something fun for the anniversary episode.

So, reach out to me, send me your questions or stories or whatever you'd like to share, and maybe it'll make it onto the episode.

Also, since I'm trying to expand the brand this year, I'd really appreciate it if you could all take a few minutes to rate the podcast, hopefully five stars, and leave a review.

This really helps get the word out to others, so we can reach more LGBTQuties, and I just like hearing the niceties. Thank you.

And beyond that, if you want to show some monetary support, don't forget to check out the Patreon. You can join for as little as $1 a month, which gets you instant access to episodes ad-free and a day early.

Plus, every month I release an exclusive bonus episode.

Sometimes it's more topical, like the history of the Pride flag, or why coming out at Thanksgiving is a thing, or sometimes it's just me and my friends chit-chatting and reacting to movies and TV shows.

And not to brag, but I do think last week's bonus episode of my friend Sara reacting to the series premiere of Queer as Folk is probably the most hilarious bonus episode I've done to date.

But if you don't want to start a monthly subscription but still want to listen to the bonus episodes, you can access them for $3 each.

But yeah, going back to the subscriptions, you get all those things I just listed above for $1 a month. If you join at $3 a month, you also get a t-shirt on top of that.

And if you join at the highest tier, which is $5 a month, literally less than a cup of coffee at Starbucks, you get a t-shirt and a personalized shout-out. And I'm also adding in a new feature.

You'll get to choose a topic for a future podcast episode. And I know I already have a couple of subscribers at the $5 tier, so reach out to me and let me know what topic you'd like me to cover.

So yeah, some exciting stuff on the horizon. I think that's everything I have to cover at the moment.

And I know I usually plug this stuff at the end, but since it's my first episode back, I wanted to bring that little reminder front and center, because I'm trying to become a business. I need to advertise.

Trump Watch 2025 (3:02)

Anyway, from celebrating new year, new me to screaming, what the fuck was 2025? Today, we are covering something really upsetting: politics. Yes, it's going to be a heavy episode.

Back in 2024, I did a queer review of the Trump administration from 2017 to 2021, and I definitely want to do reviews for other administrations too.

However, given everything that's already happened under this new Trump regime, I thought it was really important to do this year in review now, instead of waiting until 2029 as a full administration recap, assuming we even make it that long.

I'm sorry, we're getting a bit dark. Yeah, so we're going to take a look at everything this administration has done regarding LGBTQ+ rights since he took office in 2025.

And funny enough, since I staggered out the episodes to be every other week this past fall, I was thinking that maybe I should come back sooner with a new episode at the start of January for the new year, but I really needed an extra week.

And I also thought it might be a little too on the nose to release this episode on January 6. Yeah, so buckle up. It's gonna be a doozy.

But before we get into that, let's pull our tarot card.

Tarot (4:04)

Oh, exciting. First episode of 2026, and we pulled The Empress, which is a Major Arcana card. Now, as a reminder, Major Arcana cards indicate a big chapter in our lives, which can be scary.

But fortunately, this card is very nurturing and associated with maternal energy and the divine feminine.

The Empress is number three in the Major Arcana, and in numerology, three is tied to community, collaboration, and expansion.

And when we draw The Empress, it's reminding us to be open to love, passion, and creativity, which we can do by practicing self-compassion and self-love.

And when we're kind to ourselves and nurture ourselves, we're opening ourselves up to attract the things that align with our authentic wants and needs.

And it's important to remember that attracting things in means we aren't chasing but instead we're open to receiving what is sent our way, trusting that the energy we're putting out is like a magnet, attracting good in.

January 2025 (4:51)

And I hope you're a good nurturer, because we're all probably going to have to nurture ourselves after this episode. So here we go.

And just a quick disclaimer, I pulled the majority of this information from GLAAD's Trump Accountability Tracker, which also cites their sources.

And any additional sources I used are referenced in the show notes. So, Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States of America on Monday, January 20, 2025.

And that same day, he signed an executive order titled Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government, which declared that the federal government would recognize only two sexes, male and female.

However, this is kind of funny. This executive order may have made us all female.

So, here's some wording from it:

"Sex shall refer to an individual's immutable biological classification as either male or female. Female means a person belonging at conception to the sex that produces the large reproductive cell.

Male means a person belonging at conception to the sex that produces a small reproductive cell."

Now, conception is when the sperm and the egg join, and obviously we have XX chromosomes, which has been designated for female, and XY chromosomes, which has been designated for male.

However, all human fetuses start out as XX at the point of conception and lack any sex organs.

And regarding chromosomes, the Y chromosome doesn't express itself until around six to seven weeks after conception. So, according to Trump's executive order, we're all female now. So good, one girl.

Anyway, the point of that executive order was to prevent taxpayer funds from being used for gender transition healthcare and add quote unquote privacy in intimate spaces in facilities such as prisons, migrant shelters, and rape shelters.

Also on January 20, he signed another executive order that revoked Biden-era policies, including Biden's executive order that addressed discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation.

He also ordered an end to diversity, equity, and inclusion, DEI programs, across the federal government, and put such staff on administrative leave.

And upon taking office, the administration removed nearly all LGBTQ and HIV focused content and resources from the White House website.

They also eliminated LGBTQ and HIV content from key federal agency web pages, and LGBTQ+ specific pages were taken down from the Centers for Disease Control and the Department of State.

As a follow-up to the executive order regarding gender, on January 23, the administration moved some transgender women in prisons into administrative isolation and required that they be housed in men's facilities.

On January 27, Trump signed an executive order directing the Secretary of Defense to reinstate a ban on transgender people serving in the military, which, as you might remember, he tried to do in his first term, which failed after years of legal challenges.

However, this time, his administration was successful with his Supreme Court allowing this ban to go into effect on February 26.

On January 31, the Department of Education announced it would reinstate Trump era policies that narrow schools' responsibilities in handling sexual misconduct cases and expand protections for students accused of harassment or assault.

This move rolled back Biden-era Title IX guidance, which had recognized harassment or exclusion based on sexual orientation and gender identity as discrimination.

February 2025 (7:50)

On February 2, his administration ordered schools to stop using federal funds for purposes related to gender ideology.

On February 4, the administration froze applications for the gender-neutral X marker on US passports.

On February 7, the Department of Justice ordered federally funded nonprofit organizations, including the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, NCMEC, to remove references of transgender people from public materials.

And this is extremely alarming, since, as we covered in the past, LGBTQ+ youth are at the highest risk of experiencing homelessness.

On February 10, the State Department travel advisory website removed T from the LGBT acronym, which then only offered guidance to LGB travelers.

Also on February 10, Trump issued an executive order targeting widely accepted health care for transgender youth using misleading and inflammatory language.

Specifically, gender affirming care, which is endorsed by every major US medical association and prescribed for decades, including during Trump's first term, was restricted under the order.

Fortunately, a federal judge blocked its implementation, which would have barred federal agencies from conditioning or withholding funds if a provider offered such care to anyone under 19.

On February 14, the National Park Service removed the word transgender from the Stonewall National Monument website, which is literally erasure of LGBTQ+ history.

Trans women were at the center of the Stonewall riots, and the National Park Service fully removed that from the Stonewall monument.

On February 18, after a federal judge ordered the web pages that contain vital information about trans people and other marginalized groups be reinstated to government websites, the Trump administration added a disclaimer to the top of the websites for the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and the Health and Human Services that read:

"Any information on this page promoting gender ideology is extremely inaccurate and disconnected from the immutable biological reality that there are two sexes, male and female.

The Trump administration rejects gender ideology and condemns the harms it causes to children by promoting their chemical and surgical mutilation and to women by depriving them of their dignity, safety, well-being, and opportunities.

This page does not reflect biological reality, and therefore, the administration and this department reject it."

March 2025 (9:52)

On March 4, Trump falsely claimed the US was giving $8 million to promote LGBTQI+ in Lesotho.

And he made this claim because the US promotes widely used health programs in Lesotho, especially HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment. So, way to associate the LGBTQ+ community with HIV and AIDS.

And just as a reminder, idolized Republican presidents Reagan and Bush have blood on their hands for essentially turning a blind eye to the AIDS crisis in America under their administrations.

And Trump also claimed that $8 million in taxpayer dollars was going to creating quote-unquote transgender mice.

Now the reality is that there was funding going to transgenic mice research, which is a standard scientific method crucial for advancing treatments for diseases like asthma and cancer.

So, he doesn't know the difference between transgender and transgenic and just assumes anything with the word trans in it is bad. Sucks for the medical community.

Soon, they won't be able to refer to operations as organ transplants. It'll just be plants. So, hope you have a successful heart plant.

Anyway, speaking of word associations, on March 7, the Department of Defense reportedly was using keyword searches to flag content for removal, which included the word gay.

First and foremost, this is obviously bad, since it disproportionately affects women, minorities, and commemorative months.

But secondly, this flagging reportedly resulted in photos and posts of the Enola Gay being flagged for removal. And the Enola Gay was the World War II airplane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

On March 14, the Department of Veterans Affairs rescinded Directive 1341, which for years ensured that transgender, non-binary, and intersex veterans received respectful, clinically appropriate care.

Originally issued in 2018, Directive 1341 established protections against discrimination and set standards for care, including hormone therapy, mental health support, and facility access consistent with veterans' gender identities.

But that's gone now, so way to support the troops. On March 24, the administration terminated approximately 68 grants to 46 institutions totaling nearly $40 million.

And many of these grants supported research on LGBTQ+ health, including HIV prevention, cancer, and youth suicide.

However, these grants are funded through congressional appropriations, which the executive branch cannot unilaterally control.

And in June 2025, a federal judge ruled that some of these grant cancellations were illegal and potentially discriminatory, and the funding to those in question was reinstated, although the decision was interim and subject to appeal.

April 2025 (12:12)

On April 4, during a proclamation declaring April National Child Abuse Prevention Month, Trump claimed transgender care was a form of child abuse.

That same day, He also established a Title IX special investigations team aimed at restricting transgender women and girls from participating in women's sports teams and accessing corresponding facilities.

On April 28, Trump announced without evidence that the University of Pennsylvania violated sex discrimination laws by allowing a transgender woman to compete in women's sports.

The Department of Education then demanded the university remove individual athletic records of swimmer Lia Thomas and issued apology letters to other female athletes who they alleged were discriminated against.

The administration also halted $175 million in federal research grants, linking the suspension of funds to Thomas's participation in women's swimming.

May 2025 (12:58)

On May 4, the administration slashed more than $800 million in research into the health of LGBTQ+ people, abandoning studies of cancers and viruses and setting back efforts to defeat a resurgence of sexually transmitted infections, which, by the way, straight people are guilty of STDs too.

On May 5, the Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics under Trump removed all references to gender or gender identity from four federal surveys.

Also on May 5, Trump's Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Hud directed the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity to halt investigations into all cases of gender identity discrimination.

On May 7, the Trump administration targeted dozens of National Park Service grants for elimination, which included a $58,000 grant to the State Historical Society of Colorado to survey potential LGBTQ+ sites for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.

And as we've talked about in many episodes, LGBTQ+ history and medical research has often been underrepresented, which is why it's so critical to have.

On May 27, Trump ordered local authorities to ban a transgender athlete from participating in the California state track and field finals and warned that federal funding to the state would be withheld if his order wasn't followed.

On May 28, Trump's Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, CMS, sent letters to hospitals providing transgender care for children, demanding data on quality standards and finances.

And behind this was TV doctor and CMS administrator Mehmet Oz, who gave select hospitals 30 days to report on medical interventions for gender dysphoria in children.

June 2025 (14:24)

On June 3, to kick off Pride Month, Trump's FBI urged Americans to report doctors, hospitals, and clinics that provide gender affirming surgeries for minors, labeling the procedure as quote unquote child mutilation.

That same day, Trump's Department of Justice threatened action against California's policy allowing transgender athletes to participate in girls' sports, with Trump promising large-scale fines.

Also on June 3, Trump's Department of Education threatened to withhold $1 million in special education funding from a Connecticut school district despite the district's compliance with state and federal law.

On June 18, the administration announced that it would terminate a part of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline dedicated to LGBTQ+ youth, also known as the Press 3 option, on July 17.

On June 26, Trump's Department of Health and Human Services announced an investigation into a Minnesota policy allowing transgender students to participate in school sports following claims that a high school softball team won a championship with a transgender player.

On June 27, Trump's Department of Defense removed the name of gay civil rights leader Harvey Milk from a US naval vessel.

Milk was actually a Navy veteran and was also the first openly gay elected official in California.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested that naming ships after Milk and other civil rights figures could cause shame.

And under Hegseth's guidance, the Department of Defense will also review the names of vessels honoring women and Black and Hispanic figures, including Thurgood Marshall, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Harriet Tubman, Dolores Huerta, Cesar Chavez, Lucy Stone, and Medgar Evers.

July 2025 (15:49)

On July 1, the administration withheld nearly $7 billion in funding for schools, including after school programs.

Specifically, this withholding affected six federally funded grant programs while the Trump administration was investigating whether the funds were used for teachings on LGBTQ+ topics.

On July 9, Trump's Department of Defense's deadline for all trans military personnel to voluntarily separate past which affected approximately 4,240 service members diagnosed with gender dysphoria.

That same day, Trump's Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation, which governs high school sports, for refusing to comply with the administration's demands to bar transgender athletes from girls and women's sports.

And just in FYI that California has prohibited discrimination based on gender identity in school since 2013.

Also on that day, a former Treasury Department employee confirmed in a media interview that references to sexual orientation and gender identity were removed from the department's internal Equal Employment Opportunity complaint forms.

This change formalized months of dismantling inclusive infrastructure, discouraging employee resource group activity, and targeting DEI personnel.

On July 11, three months after Trump's Department of Justice ordered investigations into health care providers, they announced that it had issued subpoenas to more than 20 doctors and health clinics in regards to providing care for transgender Americans.

And this was later blocked on September 9, 2025. That same day, the administration quietly removed references to bisexual people and bisexuality from the Stonewall National Monument website.

Also on that day, court records were released that documented how the Trump administration pulled nearly 600 books from Defense Department schools that include themes of racial justice and LGBTQ+ identities.

And these included books about the Stonewall Riots and Heartstopper.

On July 15, the Trump administration directed organizations working to prevent teen pregnancy to exclude LGBTQ+ inclusive content from their programs or risk losing federal funding.

On July 17, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline dedicated to LGBTQ+ youth, also known as the Press 3 option was officially ended.

And this program was estimated to have served approximately 1.5 million young people.

That same day, a new report came out that the Trump administration was continuing to dismantle key HIV prevention and treatment efforts.

Specifically, the administration had eliminated the CDC's HIV Prevention Division, cut or delayed multiple HIV related grant awards, ended a $258 million NIH HIV vaccine research program, and shut down studies focused on preventing new infections among Black and Latino gay men.

The report also stated that the administration had requested a $1.5 billion reduction in domestic HIV care and prevention funding and halted PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which was a 22-year-old global program credited with saving 26 million lives.

On July 18, hospitals nationwide, including U Chicago Medicine, Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC, Connecticut's Children's Hospital, Kaiser Permanente, and Yale Medicine rolled back or banned gender affirming care for transgender youth in response to a Trump Administration Department of Justice investigation into their practices.

That same day, West Palm Beach and Boynton Beach, Florida announced that they would remove rainbow crosswalks, following directives from President Donald Trump's administration and Governor Ron DeSantis to eliminate street markings honoring the LGBTQ+ community.

And this came after the US Department of Transportation Secretary Duffy sent letters to governors in all 50 states earlier that month, stating that intersections and crosswalks needed to be kept free from distractions, including political banners.

On July 21 the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee revised its eligibility rules to prohibit transgender women from competing in women's Olympic sports, citing an obligation to comply with federal expectations under a Trump executive order.

That same day, the Desperado LGBTQ+ Film Festival, which was hosted by Paradise Valley Community College in Arizona, announced the cancelation of its 17th annual event following a Trump executive order that requires colleges to eliminate diversity initiatives or face the loss of federal funding.

On July 25 the Trump administration opened an investigation into the Oregon Department of Education alleging civil rights violations for permitting transgender girls to compete in girls’ school sports.

That same day, the Trump administration's Department of Education announced the findings of an investigation into five Northern Virginia School Districts claiming that their trans inclusive bathroom and locker room policies violate Title IX.

On July 29 Trump's Department of Justice issued a memo to federal agencies threatening funding if agencies support DEI.

That same day, Brown University announced a settlement restoring $510 million in funding that had been illegally withheld by the Trump administration.

As part of the agreement, the university said they would enforce a ban on transgender athletes participating in intercollegiate sports and would not provide gender reassignment surgery or prescribed puberty blockers or hormones to any minor for the purpose of aligning the child's appearance with a gender different from their sex.

August 2025 (20:33)

On August 4, Asylum Pride House, an LGBTQ+ asylum center based in West Philadelphia, came out saying they were experiencing rising demand for housing, legal support, and social services as the Trump administration intensifies its immigration crackdown.

Founded by Victoria Siroise, the organization prioritizes trans and non-binary clients who face heightened vulnerability and unique obstacles in the asylum process.

And some of their clients are fleeing persecution due to their LGBTQ+ identity and rely on the center, not only for legal guidance, but also for basic needs, community connections, and safe housing.

That same day, Trump's Department of Homeland Security announced plans to implement a visa policy that would bar transgender women from traveling to the United States to participate in professional sports practices.

And this comes ahead of the Olympics being hosted in LA in 2028. On August 5, the Trump administration opposed the use of the term gender in United Nations documents and resolutions.

On August 7, the US Air Force announced it would deny early retirement to transgender service members with 15 to 18 years of service, forcing them out without benefits.

On August 12, the Trump directed a comprehensive review of the Smithsonian Institution to assess whether its exhibits align with the administration standards, including a display at the National Museum of American History featuring transgender athletes.

And this order requires the Smithsonian to implement any necessary changes within 120 days. That same day, Trump's State Department released its annual report on human rights.

However, it drastically reduced the types of government repression and abuse that the administration deems worthy of criticism.

In fact, references to restrictions on political participation in government corruption, violence against minorities and LGBTQ+ people, and harassment of human rights organizations were to be removed.

Also on August 12, Trump nominated Tammy Bruce to become a UN deputy ambassador, who is an out lesbian but opposes health care for transgender youth and said Pride parades cause harm.

On August 14, the Trump administration's Department of Education opened an investigation into four Kansas public school districts alleging that their support for transgender students violated Title IX.

On August 15, as a result of the Trump administration's substantial reductions to the federal workforce and DC city budget, the DC Office of LGBTQ Affairs faced a $600,000 funding cut for the fiscal year of 2026.

On August 20, court filings revealed that the Trump administration's Department of Justice issued subpoenas seeking private medical records of LGBTQ+ youth treated at hospitals across the United States.

And the subpoenas requested billing records, communications with drug manufacturers, social security numbers, addresses, birth dates, Zoom recordings, voicemails, and texts from clinicians treating gender non-conforming youth under 19.

Hospitals in both states with protections for LGBTQ+ care and states with bans were targeted, and doctors and clinicians reported receiving violent threats and fearing government retaliation.

On August 21 the White House released a list of 20 Smithsonian exhibits it labeled objectionable, many of which highlight work by LGBTQ+ and non-white artists.

Among the targeted works were the American History Museum's LGBTQ+ history exhibit featuring dragged ballroom culture of the 1920s, a National Museum of the American Latino program led by a wheelchair user discussing their identity as Latinx, LGBTQ+, and disabled, the American History Museum's Title IX anniversary exhibit, which included transgender athletes, and a National Portrait Gallery painting by Amy Sherald portraying a Black trans woman as the Statue of Liberty.

That same day, Trump's Supreme Court upheld the administration's order that required the National Institutes of Health, the NIH, to cut funding for more than 1,700 research grants, including those focused on HIV and AIDS and the health impacts of disease on LGBTQ+ people and communities of color.

Also, on August 21 the Trump administration's Department of Health and Human Services announced the termination of California's federal grant for the Personal Responsibility Education Program, PREP, which delivered sexual health education to adolescents.

And the Administration for Children and Families, the ACF, said the grant was revoked because California refused to strip content referencing what they deemed to be quote unquote radical gender ideology.

Then a few days later on, August 27 the Trump administration warned US states and territories that they would lose federal funding for sex education programs unless all references of transgender people were removed.

That same day, it was reported that the Trump administration was reportedly planning to withhold full funding for PEPFAR in the upcoming fiscal year.

Again, that's the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

And of the $6 billion Congress allocated for 2025 the Office of Management and Budget led by Russell Vought had only released $2.9 billion.

On August 28 Trump's Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights required the Denver Public School System to replace all gender-neutral bathrooms with sex designated multi stall restrooms and adopt a series of related policies within 10 days, or they would face potential penalties.

On August 29 RFK Jr, the US Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Kennedy dynasty's biggest failure, told Fox News that federal agencies were studying a potential link between medications for gender medications for gender transitions and violence, citing a recent Minneapolis shooting involving a transgender suspect.

He also added that the National Institutes of Health was examining whether SSRIs and other psychiatric drugs might be contributing to violence. And news flash that was 2025.

Almost everyone, regardless of gender identity is on an SSRI.

September 2025 (25:41)

On September 1, David J Deming, the Dean of Harvard College, notified students that the school will no longer host programming tailored to specific racial or identity groups, and suggested the rollback of diversity initiatives may extend beyond the recent closures of offices serving minority, LGBTQ+, and women students.

And this came after the Trump administration threatened to withhold billions in federal research funding unless harbor dismantled its DEI program in April.

That same day, following the August mass shooting in Minneapolis, Trump's Department of Justice announced it was weighing restrictions on the Second Amendment rights of transgender Americans.

Interestingly enough, despite the fact that the majority of mass shootings are committed by cisgender men, they're still able to carry around weapons.

Anyway, on September 2 and 3, Trump made a couple of remarks conflating crime with conflating crime with support for transgender people.

On September 8, a bisexual US Navy doctor was reportedly fired from her role after the extremist account Libs of TikTok flagged her use of pronouns on LinkedIn and her work in transgender health care to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

That same day, Trump spoke to the Religious Liberty Commission, which was created by the Trump White House, and said that on the first day of his administration, he cut federal funding to any schools that forced quote unquote transgender insanity on students and banned again, this is a quote: "the chemical and surgical mutilation of our children."

And he said this despite every major medical association supporting medical care for transgender people.

On September 10, the Trump administration announced plans to remove gender affirming care from the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program starting in 2026 which would reduce health care coverage for more than 8 million people who rely on the program, including federal employees, retirees and their families.

On September 15, Trump stated he would have no problem removing Pride flags from private property in DC, after a reporter at Real America's Voice claimed a lot of people felt threatened by the flag following Charlie Kirk's murder.

And Trump's administration and supporters also pushed the narrative that Charlie Kirk's shooter was trans, despite a lack of evidence.

And just a reminder that 96% of mass shootings are committed by cisgender men.

On September 17, the Trump administration's Department of Education threatened to withhold $15 million in federal funding from New York City's magnet schools if they did not remove trans inclusive policies, which provide transgender students access to sports teams, bathrooms, and other accommodations.

That same day, the administration sent a similar letter to Chicago Public Schools warning that federal funding would be cut if the district did not reverse its newly announced Black Student Success Plan and rescind trans inclusive policies.

Also on September 17, the Trump administration's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released an updated priorities list that included a focus on gender ideology and protecting children, and stated that it is a CDC priority to recognize that a person's sex as either male or female is unchangeable and determined by objective biology, and to ensure CDC programs accurately reflect science, including the biological reality of sex.

The agency also condemned healthcare for transgender youth, declaring it a priority to protect children from these practices, and noting that it will deprioritize programs that engage in these practices where permissible.

On September 19, multiple outlets reported that groups linked to Project 2025 and conservative policy circles were allegedly advocating that Trump's FBI adopt treating trans people as a subset of its new threat category, Nihilistic Violent Extremists or NVEs.

NVEs are defined as criminal conduct in furtherance of political, social, or religious goals that derive primarily from a hatred of society at large and a desire to bring about its collapse by sowing indiscriminate chaos.

Within this framework, anyone that these conservative groups view as promoting radical gender ideology would be labeled as Transgender Ideology Inspired Violent Extremists, or TIVE, which would fall under the NVE designation.

That same day, Fox News asked Vice President JD Vance whether he views the quote unquote militant transgender movement as a domestic terrorist threat.

Vance replied, "If you are encouraging people to commit acts of violence against the United States government or against your fellow Americans, absolutely. You're involved in a terrorist movement."

Now I want to break this down, because the concept of this quote is factual, that committing acts of violence against the government or fellow Americans can be considered an act of terrorism.

However, the problem here is that he and Fox News are directly linking the definition of terrorism to transgender people with an absolute lack of evidence.

And if JD Vance wants us to believe that definition, then doesn't that mean that all those January Sixers should be labeled and tried as terrorists? But oh, wait, Trump pardoned some of them.

Anyway, also on September 19, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to allow enforcement of a passport policy for transgender and non-binary individuals that requires a male or female sex designation based on birth certificates, appealing a lower court ruling that permits people to use the gender markers M, F, or X that aligns with their gender identity.

And an appeals court has since left the judge's order in place.

On September 20, the Trump administration's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention removed or restricted access to nearly two dozen web pages, many of which focused on LGBTQ+ health care or other efforts to address health inequities.

On September 22 White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that the administration is investigating what she described as multiple reasons transgender people are turning to domestic terrorism despite there being no evidence of such activity.

She added that anyone who disputes the claim is willfully ignorant. And quick reality check, transgender individuals are four times more likely to be victims of crime than cisgender people.

On September 24 it was reported that the Trump administration has withheld $1.25 million in congressionally appropriated funds from 20 organizations supporting projects for LGBTQ+ and other underrepresented communities.

This included $75,000 awarded to the Preservation League to document LGBTQ+ historic resources in Washington, DC, $74,692 for the Preservation Society in Providence to conduct an LGBTQ+ survey and prepare a national register nomination, and $32,000 to the fund for the City of New York, Inc. to nominate the residents of Bayard Rustin, the iconic civil rights and LGBTQ+ activist as a National Historic Landmark.

That same day, Trump canceled a scheduled meeting with Democratic lawmakers aimed at preventing a potential federal government shutdown, posting a lengthy and inaccurate message on Flop Social claiming that Democrats were threatening to shut down the government since they were allegedly demanding to allow men to play in women's sports, which was not in the budget or part of the renegotiations.

And here's more of the quote: "And essentially create transgender operations for everybody and force taxpayers to fund transgender surgery for minors."

The next day, on September 25 Trump signed a presidential memo aimed at dismantling all stages of organized political violence and domestic terrorism, and he attributed such violence to extremism on migration, race and gender, and hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality.

However, this memo carries no legal force and does not create new law or alter the First Amendment's constitutional protections.

Also, on September 25 while signing an executive order to approve a proposed deal with TikTok, Trump was asked if the government was going to shut down, and he responded by claiming that Democrats, and this is a quote, "continue to want to want to have men and women's sports. They continue on and have transgender for everybody."

Now, I think he's missing a few words there to make that last one a fully formed sentence. Regardless, he continued making this association leading up to the government shutdown.

On September 29 two anonymous national security officials told independent reporter Ken Klippenstein that the FBI was reportedly considering categorizing transgender individuals as part of a new threat designation, a classification previously applied to January 6 rioters and other right-wing extremists.

October 2025 (32:49)

On October 1, FBI Director Kash Patel fired an agent in training for displaying a Pride flag on his desk while signed to a California field office the year before.

The agent in training received a letter dated October 1 and signed by Patel, alleging that the display constituted an inappropriate political message in the workplace in California under President Joe Biden's administration.

And this firing followed reports that pro-Trump appointees within the FBI were reviewing internal employee files to identify LGBTQ+ staff members.

On October 3, Trump administration officials, including Education Secretary Linda McMahon and May Mailman, sent a 10-page proposal to nine colleges and universities, inviting them to join a federal compact that would tie additional federal funding to adherence to the administration's ideological priorities.

This proposal included requirements that would restrict transgender and non-binary students' access to school facilities and sports and define student sex based on reproductive function.

Additionally, provisions for admission stated that factors such as sex, ethnicity, race, nationality, political views, sexual orientation, gender identity, religious affiliation, or proxies for any of these could not be considered explicitly or implicitly in undergraduate or graduate admissions or financial support decisions.

On October 7, Trump's Department of Justice attorney Hashim Mooppan urged the US Supreme Court to overturn Colorado's law banning licensed medical professionals from engaging in dangerous conversion practices that attempt to change an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity.

Now, conversion practices are prohibited in 27 states and are widely discredited by all major medical associations due to their documented harms to mental health.

On October 8, during a meeting focused on improving trade relations between Canada and the United States, Trump began making his usual negative remarks about transgender people in front of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has a non-binary child.

On October 15, the United States Health Resources and Services Administration, overseen by RFK, announced a new policy aimed at stopping medical and surgical gender affirming care for adolescents.

The agency also threatened to revoke federally qualified health center status from clinics that do not comply with these guidelines.

And for reference, FQHC-designated centers provide federally funded services regardless of a patient's ability to pay.

On October 16, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson issued a statement criticizing the Netflix show Boots, which is based on the memoir of former Marine Corps Sergeant Greg Cope White and chronicles his experiences as a closeted gay teen in the US military.

The statement asserted that under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, Pentagon officials "will not compromise our standards to satisfy an ideological agenda, unlike Netflix, whose leadership consistently produces and feeds woke garbage to their audience and children."

On October 18, US Customs and Border Protection implemented a rule requiring airlines to ignore X sex markers on passports and instead record an M or F designation.

This leaves transgender and non-binary travelers with an X marker in a state of uncertainty and potentially prevents them from providing accurate documentation while traveling.

On October 24, the Trump administration modified the official White House "Major Events Timeline" to include disparaging language about transgender people and falsely claim that the Biden administration established Transgender Day of Visibility, TDOV, on Easter Sunday 2024.

Now the reality is that TDOV was created by a transgender activist nearly 20 years ago, and is observed annually on March 31, while Easter falls on different dates each year based on the lunar calendar.

On October 27, an official notice on the US Department of Agriculture website falsely blames support for transgender people for the government shutdown and for delays in providing food and nutritional assistance or SNAP benefits to millions of Americans who depend on them.

On October 28, the Trump administration sent letters to child welfare officials in Vermont, California, New York, Massachusetts, and Washington state claiming that their LGBTQ+ inclusive foster care policies may violate federal law without identifying which law was allegedly at issue.

And the Imprint, a nonprofit outlet that focuses on vulnerable children and families, reported that Alex Adams, Assistant Secretary of the Federal Administration for Children and Families, demanded that states explain how they would address the administration's concerns and threatened to withhold federal funds already appropriated by Congress.

And just to put that in context, research shows that roughly one-third of foster youth identifies LGBTQ+.

November 2025 (36:51)

On November 1, on the official White House website, a separate page was created to look like a fake profile for Democratic Congressional leaders, which included an About Me section for Rep Hakeem Jeffries that read: "We love DEI, transgender for everyone, and handing out taxpayer benefits to illegal immigrants."

On November 6, Trump's Supreme Court allowed his administration to enforce a policy preventing transgender and non-binary people from choosing passport gender markers that match their gender identity.

Now this ruling pauses that lower court order we talked about that had required the government to continue offering M, F, or X markers on new and renewed passports while a lawsuit over the policy proceeds.

On November 14, the State Department quietly updated its website with new language that suggests passports could be invalidated for transgender, non-binary, and intersex Americans.

And this change has raised concern among transgender advocates, who say the update offers little clarity on how or why such actions would be justified under existing federal regulations.

On November 17, JAMA Internal Medicine published an analysis that outlined the scope of funding cuts to HIV research, cancer studies, and other LGBTQ+ inclusive projects under the Trump administration.

This analysis found that grants for 383 clinical trials were terminated between late February and August, affecting more than 74,000 participants.

So about one in every 30 clinical trials was impacted, with cuts falling most heavily on studies focused on infectious diseases like COVID-19 and HIV, as well as prevention and behavioral health interventions.

On November 19, CNN reported that the Trump administration deported a transgender woman to Mexico that month, despite a court order barring her removal to that country.

According to Them, her deportation violated a March court order issued under the United Nations Convention against Torture, which was meant to protect her from the risk of torture or violent persecution.

The woman, Britania Rios, was deported without money, her daily medications, or a cell phone.

And transgender advocates note that Mexico is widely considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world for transgender people.

Also on November 19, the Department of Health and Human Services released a final report criticizing healthcare for transgender youth, despite gender affirming care being supported by every major medical association.

And although the report claimed to be peer reviewed, STAT News reported that researchers who support gender affirming care were not contacted, even when their work was cited.

Instead, most reviewers were outspoken critics of gender affirming care, had ties to anti LGBTQ+ groups, and had little to no clinical experience treating transgender youth.

On November 21, the BBC reported that the Trump administration was preparing to formally accuse countries with race and gender diversity policies of violating human rights.

Furthermore, the State Department was distributing new guidance to US embassies and consulates that contribute to its annual report on global human rights abuses.

And a former State Department official said the new rules exclude protections for women, LGBTQ+ people, religious and ethnic minorities, and non-believers, groups that are entitled to equal rights under US and international law, and described the guidance as showing "jaw-dropping" hostility toward LGBTQ+ people.

On November 24, it was made public that the Trump administration's Department of Justice had lost its claim, decided on September 29, against a federal judge who blocked the ban on transgender military service.

The judge had ruled that Trump's executive order was, and this is a quote, "soaked in animus" against transgender people and that the administration had failed to produce evidence of a need for a ban against trans service.

On November 25, 20 states filed a lawsuit to block the Trump administration from restricting $3 billion in homelessness assistance funding, and argued the changes violate federal law and unlawfully target LGBTQ+ people and other communities.

December 2025 (40:18)

On December 1, the Trump administration became the first administration in 37 years to not recognize World AIDS Day, which raises awareness of the global HIV and AIDS epidemic and had been observed by both Republican and Democratic administrations since 1988.

On December 4, Trump's Department of Justice directed inspectors to stop using standards meant to protect transgender, intersex, and gender non-conforming people from sexual violence in prisons and jails, according to a memo obtained by NPR.

The memo states that the Department of Justice is revising Prison Rape Elimination Act standards to align with President Trump's executive order on so-called gender ideology extremism, despite research showing LGBTQ+ prisoners face a significantly higher risk of sexual assault.

On December 5, Trump's Department of Health and Human Services removed the name Rachel from Admiral Rachel Levine's official portrait as Assistant Secretary for Health, replacing it with her dead name beneath the mounted glass used for permanent institutional displays.

And Levine was the first transgender person confirmed by the US Senate to lead a federal agency. That same day, Trump's Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a Justice Department memo directing the FBI to establish a cash reward system to incentivize people to provide information that leads to the identification and arrest of individuals the government considers part of domestic terrorist organizations.

This memo explicitly stated that the FBI should include people promoting radical gender ideology in the list of groups the new cash reward system could target alongside other alleged extremist categories.

And in the memo's framework, trans equality activists and others who advocate for transgender rights were placed in the same domestic terrorism investigative category as Antifa aligned extremists and other ideologically defined targets.

And this departs from how domestic terrorism has historically been defined and investigated, and also, the memo failed to provide any evidence linking transgender activists to violent acts.

And rounding out the year, can you believe that was just one year?

On December 18, Trump's Department of Health and Human Services, again, under RFK, announced new proposed rules that would restrict access to gender affirming medical care for transgender youth.

And these proposals included barring hospitals that provide gender affirming care from participating in Medicare and Medicaid, and would also prohibit federal payments under Medicaid and CHIP for gender affirming services for minors.

Episode Closing (42:26)

So, just a lot of bullshit this year, and you can see that the administration is primarily targeting transgender people.

And just a reminder, the letter T is in the LGBTQ+ acronym, so we should all be here protecting each other, because one, that's the right thing to do, and we're all part of the same community.

But two, and I think I said this before, for all the quote-unquote normal gay guys out there who want to distance themselves from that, you can bet your soggy ass that as soon as the administration is done with the transgender community, they're coming after you, whether you consider yourself quote-unquote normal or not.

Anyway, let's try to connect this back to the Tarot. Yeah. So again, we drew The Empress.

This card is full of that nurturing, compassionate energy, and asking us to be open to receiving love. And we can do that by practicing self-compassion so that we're attracting rather than chasing.

Now, I'll admit, at first, I found it very hard to understand how this card applies to what we covered today.

But what I'm choosing to believe is that The Empress is reminding us to take care of ourselves and our community during this difficult time.

You know, I think it's easy to see the headlines and hear these stories and become overwhelmed by anger or fear or sadness, and I think for some of us, myself included, when I see these things, I want to take some kind of action to fix it.

Like I want to sign a petition or have a conversation or share something online to change an opinion.

And I keep hoping that those who have greater power are able to take some kind of action, like sign a law or establish some kind of committee or something that protects our community or holds Trump accountable.

But having that hope has left me disappointed, because unfortunately, I feel like I don't really see any justice occurring in our government right now.

And I know that sounds grim, but the point of that is to say maybe that's an example of how I've been chasing instead of attracting.

Now, that doesn't mean we should be complicit or turn a blind eye to what's going on or give up.

But maybe this card's a reminder that some of the energy we've been expending outward from our anger or fear or sadness, we should instead turn inward to focus on taking care of ourselves, because there's only so much we can do before we burn out.

And no matter how out and proud we are, the terrible things this administration is saying about our community can still hurt us. So maybe we need to make sure that there's balance in our lives.

You know, in addition to taking action, let's make sure we're also practicing self-compassion and self-love, because we need to take care of our emotional well-being to persevere through these dark times.

And we need to extend that nurturing energy to our community, too, especially our trans brothers and sisters.

We're living in a time where it feels like our leaders are dividing our country, so we need to make sure we're not further dividing ourselves within our community.

You know, we've seen this throughout history, where our leaders try to turn society against us, like Reagan during the AIDS crisis, but our community has always come together to support and protect one another to get through those dark times.

And through our shared resilience, we've always made it through while continuing to push the needle of progress forward.

For me personally, it's very disheartening to see the work we've done and the progress we've made be undone by this administration for a second time.

And it's easy to fall into the trap of, well, it seems like nothing we do matters, so I'm giving up hope.

But we can't. Instead, maybe we redirect a bit. Instead of putting all our energy in chasing for something from people who are never going to accept us, we shift some of that energy to receiving love and support from the people who celebrate us.

And in addition to The Empress's nurturing energy, she reminds us of the importance of community and collaboration.

And I really think that it's our community who will get us through these next few years, so that once this administration is gone, we'll be ready to thrive again. So, by all means, please don't give up.

Snippet from Queer as Philly Folk (45:41)

And I know this was a heavier episode, so I figure I'll try to end it on a lighter note and hopefully make you all laugh with a little snippet from this month's bonus episode.

Rob Loveless

Hello, my LGBTQuties, and welcome to your January bonus episode.

It is New Year's Eve in South Philadelphia, and I am joined by my good friend and longtime companion, Sara Solomon, formerly Sara Sabatino.

You might remember her from the surviving a breakup episode in the early days, when we still recorded in a closet.

Sara Solomon

Hello.

Rob Loveless

We're not even one drink in. We're drinking Starbucks right now. It's still early. Yeah, we're just having a cozy night in. We are baking some brownies as we speak.

And speaking of packing fudge, we're gonna watch some gay sex today. We are going to watch the first episode of Queer as Folk so Sara can react to it, because one of my favorite shows.

She's never seen it. Actually, I don't think that's entirely true. I think you said that one time when you were married to your ex-husband, you had put it on, and he was on the couch.

And there started being some gay sex, so you had to, like, change it real quick.

Sara Solomon

That's a lie. I don't think I've ever seen it.

Rob Loveless

Really?

Sara Solomon

Really.

Rob Loveless

All right, I'll cut this part out. Sara famously told me that she gets self-conscious watching shows that have sex in it around other people.

But she did recently watch Heated Rivalry, which I mean Queer as Folk walked so Heated Rivalry could ice skate.

Sara Solomon

Ugh, Heated Rivalry. What, what a, what a night that was to watch the entire season.

Rob Loveless

She's committed. So, we figured we can just watch the first episode and just get some of her honest reactions. She's under a blanket with some cheese and crackers, snacking away. And yeah.

Sara Solomon

Do I have to put down my cheese?

Rob Loveless

Preferably, yes.

Sara Solomon

Fine.

Rob Loveless

All right. Are you ready to gear it up?

Sara Solomon

I'm ready.

Rob Loveless

All right, in the words of one of the songs that appears in the show, let's get soaking wet.

Sara Solomon

Oh, love that.

Rob Loveless

I'm gonna pop it in.

Sara Solomon

Okay, I'm gonna eat my cheese. How many times have you watched this movie?

Rob Loveless

It's a TV show.

Sara Solomon

Well, whatever. Oh, this cheese is excellent. You should really have some. He turned off the entire system.

He doesn't know how to use his own equipment. It is a DVD, though. Oh, here we go again.

Rob Loveless

It's gayja vu.

Sara Solomon

Michael, Emmett. I had a dog named Emmett. Showtime presents. Oh, look at that necklace. Oh.

Rob Loveless

Her eyes are wide.

Sara Solomon

Look at these men.

Rob Loveless

Now you've visited me in Pittsburgh many times when I lived there, so just tell me if anything about the show reminds you of anything we saw or did in Pittsburgh.

Sara Solomon

Her boobs are glowing. Well, you've never taken me here.

Rob Loveless

We don't have gay bars like that in Pittsburgh.

Sara Solomon

Well. You'd think for the 2000s. Remember, you did take me to the gay bar in Pittsburgh? There were penises on the screen.

Rob Loveless

I do. That was the one where I think our friend was falling asleep in the chair.

Sara Solomon

Oh, that's right. Ooh, oh, he's cute. Who's that?

Rob Loveless

Brian Kinney

Sara Solomon

Really? Does he come back? Oh.

Rob Loveless

He's one of their friend group.

Sara Solomon

Oh, look at the chains. Oh. Oh. How's it going? So that's one of their friends?

Rob Loveless

Yeah, Brian's their friend.

Sara Solomon

10 minutes? A blow job.

Rob Loveless

We're getting the cracker ASMR over here.

Sara Solomon

And goat cheese. Oh, who's that? Cruising me?

Rob Loveless

Yeah, cruising is, like, when you've been like, checking somebody out to, like, hook up with them.

Sara Solomon

There's the 17-year-old baby child. What is he doing in this neighborhood? He should be studying for his little high school finals. Oh, so this kid, like, this is his first time on the scene.

Rob Loveless

Yeah.

Sara Solomon

Where's a good place to go? This looks like a helpful man. Oh, nope. I was wrong. Oh, well, maybe not. He seems harmless. Why are you smoking?

Oop, 10 minutes. Oh. 10 minutes is a long time. Oh, who's that? Is that the baby? What is this? Why is he looking at him like this? Oh, what is that?

Rob Loveless

What? You don't pose like that when you go out to bars?

Sara Solomon

He just walked up to a street lamp and laid against it.

Rob Loveless

While Sandstorm by Darude is playing.

Sara Solomon

He just like got him in his sights and just went right over to him. Oh, he's cocky.

Rob Loveless

Oh, you have no idea.

Sara Solomon

Oh, oh. Is he just leaving his friends? Oh, he's rich.

Rob Loveless

Yeah, because he works in advertising in Pittsburgh and owns a loft apartment.

Sara Solomon

Oh, okay.

Rob Loveless

Just wait till you see this scene.

Sara Solomon

Oh, are we having second thoughts? Oh, oh, getting right to it. Shirts off. Why is he pouring water on himself? What in the world? What?

Rob Loveless

Special K's ketamine.

Sara Solomon

Oh, I thought he meant the cereal. I like Cheerios better. He's 17. Oh, naked man. That took all of how long have we been watching this? 20 seconds. 15 minutes. Oh, why is he standing like Jesus?

Rob Loveless

Because Brian Kenny thinks he's a god who should be worshiped by all gay men in Pittsburgh.

Sara Solomon

He doesn't know if he's a top or bottom yet. He doesn't even know what that means.

Connect with A Jaded Gay (51:16)

All right. I hope you all enjoyed that. And as always, thank you so much for listening. If you have any questions or feedback, you can reach out to me rob@ajadedgay.com.

Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe. Five stars only. I greatly appreciate it.

For more information on this topic, episode resources, blog posts, links to merchandise, socials, all that fun stuff, you can visit the website ajadedgay.com.

You can connect with the podcast on Instagram, TikTok, SoundCloud, and YouTube @ajadedgaypod. You can follow me personally, Rob Loveless, on Instagram @rob_loveless.

And if you're feeling generous, you can support the podcast on Patreon for as little as $1 a month.

That gets you instant access to episodes ad-free, a day early, plus exclusive monthly bonus content, just like that little episode snippet you heard.

Or if you just want to access the monthly bonus episodes, you can purchase them for $3 each.

And if you're scared of commitment, don't worry, I get it. You can make a one-time donation on Buy Me a Coffee for any dollar amount, and both the Patreon and Buy Me a Coffee are @ajadedgaypod.

And remember: every day is all we have, so you gotta make your own happiness.

Mmm-bye.

Outtake (52:40)

Oh, God, I hate him so much.