In their own words
‘We’ve woken up’: What it’s like to be LGBT under Trump
On one hand, the LGBT community has experienced unprecedented representation in film and on television in the past few years, from former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner’s reality show, “I am Cait,” to the Web series “Her Story,” starring two transgender actors, landing an Emmy nomination. On the other, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people have been on the receiving end of increasing instances of discrimination and violence — state laws restricting bathroom use, the Pulse nightclub attack that took 49 lives, unprecedented numbers of transgender women of color being killed. All of this happened on the watch of the first black president of the United States, Barack Obama, who was dubbed by Newsweek “the first gay president.” But Obama is no longer in office. Succeeding him is President Trump and a Cabinet once described by author Michealangelo Signorile as a “who’s who of homophobia.” On Inauguration Day, we interviewed LGBT leaders, activists and community members in Philadelphia at the annual Creating Change conference about their hopes, fears and expectations under the new administration. This is what they said.