What does a Donald Trump presidency mean for LGBTQ+ rights?

U.S. President Donald Trump has used his first six months in office to enact multiple policies impacting the lives of LGBTQ+ Americans in areas like healthcare, legal recognition and education.

On July 17, the government ended the nation's specialised mental health services for LGBTQ+ youth through the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, with the White House describing it as a service where "children are encouraged to embrace radical gender ideology".

The administration also filed a lawsuit against California this month over state policies that allow transgender female athletes to compete in girls' categories of school sports.

But rights groups are fighting back. Nine LGBTQ+ and HIV-related organisations have had more than $6 million in funding restored following a lawsuit against three of Trump's executive orders.

Here's everything you need to know:

What action has Trump taken on LGBTQ+ rights?

Trump started his second term on Jan. 20 by signing an executive order stating the United States would only recognise two sexes - male and female - before scrapping the use of a gender-neutral "X" marker in passports.

He said federal funds would not be used to "promote gender identity," government guidance documents on trans issues would be removed and trans female inmates would go to men's prisons.

Trump also signed an order banning gender-affirming care, which can include medical and mental health services, for anyone under the age of 19.

Another directive has blocked trans soldiers from serving. Defence Department funds will not be used for gender-affirming care, and anyone applying for the military with a "history of" gender dysphoria will not be considered.

Trump signed an order blocking trans women from competing in female categories of sport, including in high schools, universities and grassroots organisations.  

Schools cannot use federal funding for purposes relating to "gender ideology or discriminatory equity ideology."

Trump also terminated diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes across the federal government and ordered a 90-day pause in foreign development assistance, impacting HIV services around the globe.

A waiver for life-saving HIV care and treatment does not apply to gay and bisexual men or trans women accessing the preventative medicine PrEP.

In April, an internal memo leaked from the Justice Department conflated gender-affirming care with female genital mutilation and said performing or planning to perform such a procedure on children under the age of 18 would be punished with a jail term of of 10 years. 

What did Trump do during his first term?

After his first election in 2016, Trump sought to roll back anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people across various settings, including health care, employment, adoption, school restrooms, housing and homeless shelters

He banned trans Americans from serving in the military, which his successor reversed, and removed LGBTQ+ content from federal websites.

By the end of his first term, nearly a third of federal judges were Trump selections with lifetime appointments - of whom 40% had demonstrable anti-LGBTQ+ bias, an analysis by Lambda Legal, an LGBTQ+ rights organisation, found in January 2021. 

What have LGBTQ+ groups said?

LGBTQ+ organisations have warned that Trump's executive orders will have damaging effects. Policies targeting the trans and non-binary community "will cause harm, especially for young people," said Janson Wu of the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention group for LGBTQ+ people.

Eighteen lawsuits have been filed against Trump's "two sexes" executive order, according to the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association and Foundation.

In June, a judge ruled that the U.S. Bureau of Prisons must keep providing trans inmates with gender-affirming care, after three trans plaintiffs sued the administration in March.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which has tracked 598 anti-LGBTQ+ bills across the U.S. since the start of 2025, has also filed a legal challenge to Trump's ban on gender-affirming care for trans minors.

"This administration is six months into an assault on the civil liberties and Constitutional rights of all Americans, and trans Americans in particular have found ourselves in their crosshairs," said Sruti Swaminathan, staff attorney for the ACLU's LGBTQ and HIV Project.

"This administration is determined to push trans people out of public life and deny us the freedom to be ourselves - but we are as determined to fight back with every tool we have."

This article was updated on Monday July 21, 2025 at 16:34 GMT with new developments throughout.

(Editing by Ayla Jean Yackley.)