Days 366-500: Trump’s Complete Track Record on LGBTQ Issues
In the last 134 days, the president has continued his assault on the trans and nonbinary community.
Editor’s note: Trump’s 500th day in office is June 3. This article will be amended if he makes any additional LGBTQ-focused news before then.
Since President Donald Trump’s reelection, the full force of the federal government has been working to dismantle anything and everything it calls “gender ideology.” The past four and a half months have seen the Trump administration’s key agencies using executive orders from the president’s first days in office to further upend queer and trans rights. While federal judges continue to block some of his agencies’ anti-LGBTQ policies, his administration has ignored court orders at least 31 times. Here is every move Trump and his administration have made on LGBTQ issues since Jan. 21 of this year.
Jan. 27, 2026
Building on a 2025 presidential memorandum, the Department of State implements a new policy called Promoting Human Flourishing in Foreign Assistance (PHFFA). The policy threatens up to $39.8 billion in foreign aid by prohibiting recipients from funding gender-affirming care and anything that promotes so-called gender ideology, abortion as a method of family planning, and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Critics have called the policy a “global gag rule.”
PHFFA is paired with two additional State Department rules: Combating Gender Ideology in Foreign Assistance and Combating Discriminatory Equity Ideology in Foreign Assistance. The first bars any nongovernmental organization that “promotes transgenderism” from receiving federal funding. The second directs the Secretary of State to remove “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility” as a factor for who it considers for promotions and tenure with the Foreign Service.
Jan. 29, 2026
Attorneys tell The Advocate that the Trump administration has been quietly advancing immigration policies that could endanger LGBTQ asylum seekers, including by putting them at risk of being transferred or deported to countries where LGBTQ people are criminalized. One agreement allows for U.S. immigration officials to send third-country asylum seekers to Uganda, where—in certain circumstances—gay sex is punishable by death.
Jan. 30, 2026
Roughly a dozen federal agents arrest Don Lemon, a gay, Black journalist, at a hotel in Los Angeles for his coverage of an anti-ICE protest at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Feb. 9, 2026
The National Park Service (NPS) removes the Pride flag at the Stonewall National Monument. The move comes in response to a Jan. 21 memo that restricts certain flags from being flown by NPS. The following week, three civil rights organizations sue the administration, arguing that the removal of the flag violated federal law.
The week of Feb. 9
The Trump administration begins implementing $600 million of cuts to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grants for STD prevention and HIV surveillance programs “because they do not reflect agency priorities.” Public health funding in California, Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota is impacted.
Feb. 19, 2026
The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) issues a new federal policy that bans gender-affirming care for trans prisoners. Under the policy, incarcerated trans people must stop taking hormone therapies and new treatments are banned.
Last year, a federal judge had issued a preliminary injunction requiring the BOP to continue providing gender-affirming accommodations to trans prisoners despite a Trump executive order banning said accommodations. While that injunction is still in effect today, an Uncloseted Media investigation found that the BOP has already been violating the order for months.
Feb. 22, 2026
The Associated Press reports that the Trump administration had deported a Moroccan lesbian asylum seeker to Cameroon, a country that prosecutes same-sex conduct with up to five years in prison. She is then flown back to her home country of Morocco, where she “lives in fear.”
March 7, 2026
In legal depositions uploaded by the American Historical Association, two former Department of Government Efficiency employees say they used ChatGPT to identify and cut grants related to LGBTQ issues, as well as issues related to race and gender.
March 11, 2026
In an interview with influencer and boxer Jake Paul, Trump says, “We support gays, but [Iran] throw[s] gays off the buildings,” referring to an Iranian law that punishes same-sex activities with a maximum punishment of execution. Critics of Trump’s remarks note that the administration is attempting to deport a gay Iranian couple who fled their home country after being arrested for “homosexual conduct.” The couple was facing possible execution.
On the same day, the Department of State releases a new rule requiring visa applicants to disclose their assigned sex at birth. Advocates warn that the change, which would later go into effect on April 10, will impact trans and nonbinary people’s ability to travel to the U.S.
March 13, 2026
The Department of Education’s (DOE) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) concludes an investigation and claims that Jefferson County Public Schools in Colorado (Jeffco) violated Title IX by allowing transgender students to play on sports teams and to use bathrooms, locker rooms and overnight accommodations aligned with their gender identity. OCR gives Jeffco 10 days to reverse trans-inclusive policies, but Jeffco rejects these threats and responds by saying that:
“Providing equal access to programs and services for all Jeffco students, including those who are transgender, does not violate Title IX. … The Department’s interpretation has no basis in the Title IX regulations and is not supported by any binding court decision.”
The next month, Jeffco formally disputes the findings and claims OCR’s conclusion contradicts its original evidence.
March 19, 2026
.jpg){kind=link}
A federal judge in Oregon rules that Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary RFK Jr. overstepped his authority with a recent declaration. The declaration stated that HHS would bar federal funding for certain state-run hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to minors. The judge said that the case spoke to broader tactics that threatened to undermine democracy:
“The notion that ‘I will go forward and issue a declaration and see if we can get away with it’ is not a principle of governance that adheres to the overarching commitment to a democratic republic that requires the rule of law to be regarded and respected and honored as sacred.”
March 25, 2026
The Department of Justice (DOJ) opens an investigation into the Los Angeles Unified School District. The inquiry is driven by a lawsuit filed by parents who claim the district’s gender-inclusive policies contributed to their child Aria’s isolation and suicide. The policy intends to protect children from potentially abusive or non-affirming parents by allowing schools to withhold information about a student’s gender identity.
In this case, Aria’s parents argue the policy harmed rather than helped their child. Their refusal to recognize Aria’s gender identity is reflected throughout the lawsuit, where they repeatedly use her deadname.
March 31, 2026
On Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV), the White House releases a statement called “President Trump Ended Democrats’ ‘Transgender for Everybody’ Insanity,” which attacks Biden for releasing a TDOV message two years prior. The statement claims the Biden administration “desecrated Easter Sunday” with Biden’s message and goes on to praise Trump for the variety of ways he’s targeted “gender ideology.”
“Under President Trump, the era of government-sanctioned delusion is over,” the statement reads. “[The Trump administration’s] bold actions have shattered years of Democrat extremism.”
April 4, 2026
A budget request sent to Congress from the White House reveals that the FBI runs a new “NSPM-7 Joint Mission Center” with the goal of “proactively” investigating and prosecuting “domestic terrorists.” “Extremism on migration, race, and gender” is mentioned as a targeted belief.
April 6, 2026
In an unprecedented move, the Trump administration terminates multiple federal civil rights settlement agreements that protect transgender students from discrimination in schools and colleges. Agreements included requiring school districts to use trans students’ preferred pronouns and allow them to use facilities that match their gender identity. The DOE calls the settlements “illegal” and says prior administrations distorted Title IX to advance a “radical transgender agenda.”
April 13, 2026
Seeking to settle the lawsuit against NPS, the Trump administration agrees to continue flying the Pride flag at Stonewall. The settlement represents a major win for the LGBTQ community.
April 16, 2026
A court filing from the DOJ confirms that the Pentagon has begun removing trans service members from the military. The filing states that separation proceedings have begun for at least two individuals.
April 22, 2026
The Federal Communications Commission requests comments from the public, seeking opinion about whether they should make it clear when “gender identity themes are discussed or displayed” in a show or film. This would mean placing a “warning label” before television shows that include LGBTQ characters, stories or themes—even in programs currently rated as appropriate for all ages.
“Are parents aware that children watching programs rated TV-Y, TV-Y7, and TV-G may contain the discussion or promotion of gender identity themes? Should such programming be rated differently or contain relevant descriptions so that parents can make informed decisions?” the public notice reads.
April 30, 2026
The DOJ’s Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias releases a 197-page report stating that a Biden-era rule surrounding foster care and LGBTQ children is discriminatory “because [they] viewed traditional Christian values as harmful to children with gender dysphoria or same-sex attraction.” The rule created a system of designated placements for LGBTQ children and took steps to address harassment and abuse against LGBTQ foster kids. To become a designated placement, care providers would receive training on the needs of LGBTQ youth. The DOJ said this amounted to religious discrimination, despite the rule having religious exemptions and not being mandatory.
May 4, 2026
The OCR opens a Title IX investigation into Smith College, a private women’s college, for admitting trans women. OCR claims that “an all-girls college that enrolls male students professing a female identity would cease to qualify as single sex under Title IX.” The school, which has accepted trans and nonbinary students since 2015, said it received notice of the probe and is “fully committed to its institutional values, including compliance with civil rights laws,” and that it “does not comment on pending government investigations.”
May 6, 2026
The White House releases a new National Counterterrorism Strategy, which falsely links transgender people to extremism and ignores the threat of white supremacists and far-right terrorists. It delineates three “major types of terror groups,” including “narcoterrorists and transnational gangs,” “legacy Islamist terrorists” and “violent left-wing extremists, including anarchists and anti-fascists.” In a glaring departure from the Biden administration’s strategy focused on far-right extremists and white supremacists, the Trump administration is cracking down on ideology that they call “anti-American, radically pro-transgender, and anarchist.”
“We will use all the tools constitutionally available to us to map [these threats] at home, identify their membership, map their ties to international organizations like Antifa, and use law enforcement tools to cripple them operationally before they can maim or kill the innocent,” the document reads.
Trump closes the strategy with a threat to terror groups: “We Will Find You and We Will Kill You.”
May 7, 2026
A federal judge grants preliminary injunctions halting the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) attempt to investigate the Endocrine Society and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. The judge denied the FTC’s attempts to obtain internal records on transgender medical guidelines, ruling that there was “extensive evidence of animus” and that the investigations were likely viewpoint-based harassment.
The same day, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Texas issues a subpoena to NYU Langone, a New York City-based hospital, demanding information on any and all recipients under the age of 18 who received gender-affirming care since 2020.
May 15, 2026
In order to appease federal investigators who accused them of surreptitiously providing gender-affirming care to minors, the Texas Children’s Hospital agrees to cease all such care and pay over $10 million in damages and civil penalties. They also agree to spend millions to establish a “clinic dedicated to restorative care for detransitioners.”
If objective, nonpartisan, rigorous, LGBTQ-focused journalism is important to you, please consider making a tax-deductible donation in the U.S. through our 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor, Resource Impact, by clicking this button:
If you’re in Canada and would like to donate, you can make a charitable tax-receipted donation here:
