Krista Mitchell

Trump. The effect that President-elect Trump has had upon our nation has been incredibly vast. There have been riots across the United States.

Looking at the generalized effect has ranged from dismal to frightening, as those who support Trump have ranged from secretive about their support, to extremely ostentatious and violent. . Trump and his supporters have heavily discriminated against one subgroup, the LGBTQ+ community.

This discrimination can be seen as he has made it clear that he does not support marriage equality, by comparing marriage to putters and essentially calling gay marriage unattractive. Trump has also supported bills like house bill 2 for North Carolina, which blocks transgender individuals from using the bathrooms of the gender that they identify with.

This seemingly hostile individual coming into power has the potential to cause major changes in the communities within the United States and it seemingly has. Looking at the community of the University of Utah, there are some that are attempting to hold onto the hope that Trump will still do great things for the community. Within the community of students at the University of Utah is the LGBT community at the U.

The LGBT community at the University of Utah has a longstanding history of being highly inclusive through accepting anyone into the community regardless of whether or not they identify as being LGBT or simply an ally.

I interviewed Gabriella Blanchard who works with the LGBT center.

Gabriella told me that there has been an influx of students “Processing it a lot in the center, and the topic has come up in many meetings with staff and faculty across campus,” and while the center does “Not endorse candidates as a center. We follow the lead of students. If they want to talk about “politics” (loosely defined), [they] are open to those conversations.”

Some students from the LGBT community were also concerned about what may happen in the four years following the election, where Clinton got trumped by Trump.

The first interview was with a transsexual student wishing to be known as Ingrid Third.

Ingrid stated that she was “Nervous. I fear for our community. Trump has taken every possible position concerning LGBT issues, and I worry about what could actually do. I am very concerned about the likely damage that will come from Republicans controlling the House, Senate, and Presidency”

Although being nervous about what Trump may have in store for the LGBT community, “doubtful that Trump will have any direct effect on our LGBT community” Ingrid is as, “Even if he rolled back the Obama Administration’s interpretation of Title IX (education) and Title VII (employment) to protect the LGBT community, the University’s well thought out nondiscrimination policies (as well as Salt Lake City’s nondiscrimination ordinance and Utah’s okayish nondiscrimination law). Indirectly, Trump’s election might inspire opponents of LGBT rights and acceptance to be more vocal.”

Ingrid directed me to another member of the LGBT community on campus, Shae.

Shae considers herself a member of the LGBT community as she says she is “Attracted to all genders but do not use a label for my sexuality”

In contrast to the nervousness that plagued Ingrid, Shae was outright upset and cried herself to sleep that night, and referred to Trump as an “Racist, homophobic, Islamophobic, rapist, misogynist, ableist man.”

Shae also doubts Trump not only because of his views on the LGBT community, but also because, “his economic plans, foreign policy, and internal politics are very unlikely to have success. He knows very little about politics and I do not think that he will have the necessary knowledge or experience to make the next four years successful.”

Another element of contrast that Shae had to Ingrid was that of the effect that Trump may have upon the campus. Her reasoning was “Trump’s hateful rhetoric was normalized by his election. Especially in Utah culture, the LGBT community tends to be frowned upon or even hated. With the normalization of such negativity, pre-existing opinions will be able to come out, with the potential for a rise in discrimination or violence against the LGBT community on campus.”

Both Shae and Ingrid have interacted with the LGBT Center on campus, and while Shae has only interacted with the center a few times here and there, Ingrid is much more involved, going to the Fabulous Friday event that the center puts on weekly from 3:00-5:00 p.m.

The Fabulous Friday event is just one of many that the LGBT center puts on where those who are either a part of the LGBT community or are simply allies can come together and support each other.

This support can be quite vital now, as can be seen through Ingrid and Shae, some of the LGBT community are feeling quite lost with the recent events from the election and the shock-waves that the election has caused, and will most likely continue to cause after trump is sworn into office.