In the hours following Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20 as the 47th President of the United States, Corinne Goodwin, executive director of the Eastern PA Trans Equity Project, began fielding dozens of calls from both transgender individuals and their family members, expressing concern for their health and safety.
This fear stemmed from numerous executive orders Trump signed within hours of his first day in office, some of which rolled back protections and support for LGBTQ+ individuals, especially those who identify as transgender.
“In the last 24 hours, it’s been — it’s run at a really fast pace, you know?” Goodwin said during a recent interview with the Times Leader. “I literally just got off the phone with a parent of a transgender kid who was in tears because she’s worried about her kids’ safety and their mental health.”
The amount of calls to the project’s information line from people seeking council and support was up over 700% in the weeks following November’s election, according to Goodwin. Additionally, attendance at the organization’s various support groups doubled.
“Even in the beginning of January, we were still running at two to three times the normal pace for calls into our info line,” Goodwin explained.
One of the executive orders, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” proclaimed that, as the official policy of the U.S government, “‘Sex’ shall refer to an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female.”
The order also required federal agencies to only allow the usage of “male” or “female” on Federal documents and forms, including passports, social security records, federal personnel records and intake forms.
The order further stated that “gender identity” will not be recognized “as a meaningful basis of identification.”
According to Goodwin, this denies the existence of transgender, intersex and non-binary individuals.
During his first week or so in office, Trump also signed an executive order banning transgender individuals from serving in the military, as well as one that ends federal support for gender-affirming care to anyone under the age of 19.
Legislation and municipal protections
Trump’s actions are indicative of a larger national trend. In recent years, dozens of states around the country have introduced anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.
According to the ACLU, 533 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced in 2024 alone, six of which were in Pennsylvania.
Goodwin expects the president’s various executive orders will be challenged in court and heavily litigated — according to AP News, more than 20 states have already filed a lawsuit against Trump’s attempt to revoke birthright citizenship, a right guaranteed by the 14th amendment.
Still, Goodwin believes the inflammatory language used in the orders has the potential to enable hate speech and even physical violence against people in the LGBTQ+ community.
“I think that this type of language encourages those few people who do have ill intent,” Goodwin explained. “It enables them to express that more vociferously and do harm to people.”
Goodwin continued, “Whether it is actual physical violence or it is hate speech on social media, these things have very real impact.”
The executive director pointed toward FBI statistics regarding violence against members of the LGBTQ+ community, which has continued to rise in recent years.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, the FBI’s 2024 annual report on hate crimes found that attacks based on gender identity were up 16% from the previous year, and those based on sexual orientation were up 23%.
Though there are some local ordinances in place that protect LGBTQ+ individuals from discrimination, Goodwin pointed out only four out of 67 counties in Pennsylvania have them.
According to the Pennsylvania Youth Congress, out of 2,560 municipalities in the state, at least 71, including Wilkes-Barre, Pittston and Scranton, have local ordinances protecting LGBTQ+ people.
“But it’s important to remember that laws like this — they don’t stop discrimination from happening. So if somebody discriminates, they’re gonna discriminate. What these laws do is they provide the opportunity for people to seek redress under the law,” Goodwin explained.
Using your voice and seeking support
Despite the obvious challenges facing the LGBTQ+ community, there are numerous local organizations offering support, Goodwin said, including the Eastern PA Trans Equity Project.
The project serves 34 counties across the eastern part of the state and helps 6,000 people a year with various educational and supportive services.
“We run 17 different support groups — community groups for transgender people and their family members — including one we just launched in Wilkes-Barre this past weekend,” the executive director explained. “We also offer mentoring programs and an info line that serves around 1,500 people a year, where people can call or reach out for questions about finding doctors or therapists or lawyers or other information.”
The project also provides financial assistance to those in need of food and shelter. Additionally, the project operates a scholarship program and has helped over 1,000 people complete a legal name change in court.
When it comes to navigating this uncertain time, Goodwin suggests people focus on filling their time with things they love, as well as advocating for themselves and others, using their voices and platforms to speak out on issues they believe in.
“That can be writing to your legislators, meeting with your legislators face to face, commenting on federal or state rules or attending community events,” she offered.
When asked what Goodwin would say to those in the community who feel scared and alone right now, she offered some perspective.
“Sometimes progress looks like great leaps and bounds. … Other times, it looks like hanging on by your fingernails,” Goodwin said. “Right now, we’re in a fingernails moment, but that just means that the next big leap is around the corner.”
The post Need for LGBTQ+ support surges appeared first on Times Leader.