The LGBTQ+ community is one not foreign to both societal and political resistance. Since the 1960s, alongside both the Civil and Women’s rights movements during this monumental stretch of recent history, so did the LGBTQ+ movement, with the catalyst for the movement coming from the now historic monument, the Stonewall Riots. It began as a speakeasy called the Stonewall Inn in the 1930s, which turned into a private club for gay and lesbian youth. The Inn was subject to many raids by the police as the club wasn’t able to obtain a liquor license, and because of these raids, the initial riots from June 28 to July 3, 1969, were sparked. This is what put fire under the push for LGBTQ+ rights and with former president, Barack Obama, Stonewall Inn was made into a recognized historical landmark, the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” act was repealed, LGBTQ+ people were added from being discriminated in the workforce, and he served in office for the 2015 Supreme Court Case, Obergefell v. Hodges, in which same-sex marriage was legalized country wide.

Even with all of these changes coming from the riots present at the Stonewall Inn, President Donald J. Trump and his administration thought otherwise. On February 13, 2025, all references to trans or the word “transgender” were wiped from federal websites. The acronym LGBTQ+ was reduced to LGB, and links to historical trans people like Marsha P. Johnson are currently unavailable, said to be being currently edited. This is blatant masking of history to cut off trans people from the movements that fought for their rights, and people thought so as well. Protests in February this year took place outside the Stonewall Inn as people expressed their frustration with these unnecessary changes. “It is very distressing to me as a person who falls into the trans umbrella,” senior Tooth Stygar said, “I’m scared for what the future holds.”

Legislators seem to follow this trend, as they’d still rather focus on transgender people than other, arguably more important, problems at hand. Both WA HB1699 and WA SB5012 shadowbox the threat of trans women in women’s sports, or WA SB5136, which requires children to be called their legal name if “without the written permission of a student’s parents or guardians.” A major part of these came in Texas, with TX HB1014, a major bathroom bill requiring others to use the bathroom based on the sex written in their birth certificate. All in an attempt to disenfranchise and chip away at the small rights that transgender people had, and more, using their struggles as a scapegoat to more important federal and state issues. “When I was in high school, there were no gay rights. You couldn’t marry the person you loved,” Mrs. Francioni, the teacher who helps run our Impact Club, said. “This is our step back, and step-backs always happen. It’s frustrating and scary, but we have to keep fighting. We have to keep moving forward.”

Through all the scary laws and legislation being passed and the angry sentiment towards trans people, it’s important to encourage the fact that existence is resistance. Remaining as a bastion to the transgender people and to show we won’t go down without a fight is the best, and the least we can do. They can never truly remove the T from history.