As of Feb. 12, President Donald Trump has signed more than 60 executive orders. Many of which are impacting the LGBTQ+ community.
As executive orders have continued to be signed, LGBTQ+ students at WCU have began to speak out.
Ash Haight, a creative writing graduate student, shared her thoughts on the impact of Trump’s inauguration speech, where he declared the new policy, “there are only two genders, male and female.”
“I’m going to be teaching next year. I’m worried for my students that are trans and just queer in general, that I might have. I’m worried for them, that they will be afraid for their lives, that they won’t be able to get the care that they need,” Haight said. “I’m just afraid that this is going to drive more trans people to harm themselves because they feel hopeless. I’m refusing to give up hope.”
Haight spoke about the title of one executive order, “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” that is used in place of rhetoric like ‘gender affirming care.’
“The language just shows how much they’re fearmongering and how far they have gone from any understanding of how this actually works,” Haight said. “We have always existed, and we will always exist. The president, who has a whole bunch of sexual assault cases is now saying he needs to protect women and cares about protecting women?”
Kyla Parks, a construction management major and member of the LGBTQ+ community at WCU, is upset about Trump’s executive orders that eliminated Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs.
“People who are queer, like visibly queer, people of color, people with disabilities – all of these people weren’t getting hired because we have an unconscious bias,” Parks said.
Parks is concerned about new executive orders and their impact in schools, specifically the ripple effect it could have on the younger generations.
“The kids’ mental health is going to suffer so deeply, and I don’t want to know how long it’s going to take before [Trump] realizes that,” Parks said.
“All of these executive orders, they make me afraid for younger trans people more than they make me afraid for myself,” Haight said.
Travis Rountree, assistant professor in the English department, shares some hope on the subject.
“To celebrate queer joy is a radical act of resistance,” Rountree said.
Rountree noted that this concept has been shared amongst the queer community, but it is important to keep in mind in a time like this.
Rountree spoke about how certifications like Safe Zone are a great way to let students know that they are not alone and that they can get help from faculty. He also spoke about the importance of community and shared resources like the LGBTQ+ group therapy, Common Ground, through WCU Counseling and Psychological Services.
“The name of the game with all of this is to overwhelm all of us with so much information all at once so that we sort of feel defeated, but I think the more we find one single goal, even if that goal is ‘hey we’re going to host the school event for this group of the community,’ that’s great,” Rountree said. “Start small and go from there.”
