Horsford, Titus join LGBTQ+ roundtable to hear from trans people amid heightened Trump-led attacks

By Michael Lyle

Nevada Current

As President Donald Trump has intensified policy assaults on the transgender community such as blocking support for gender-affirming care and banning trans service members from the military, some Democrats have declined to push back against attacks.

Democratic U.S. Reps. Steven Horsford and Dina Titus joined the Human Rights Campaign, LGBTQ+ organizations, and trans locals on Sunday to hear about the impact of Trump’s policies, and assure them they aren’t fighting alone.

“One of the things that I think is so important is to be in conversation and to be able to hear directly about the lived experience of how you’re feeling,” Horsford told the roundtable. “If not, we’re leaving that to you to figure out alone, and no one should feel alone at this moment.”

Las Vegas was among the stops of the Human Rights Campaign’s American Dreams tour, a nationwide effort to bring LGBTQ+ people together to share stories and engage with local and federal elected leaders.

Organizers have hosted roundtables in Columbus and Dallas so far, and have events planned in Atlanta, the District of Colombia, and Nashville in the fall.

The tour comes as the LGBTQ+ community, in particular trans people, have seen a Trump-fueled wave of anti-trans demonization and policies.

Trump has issued several anti-trans orders, including one to block federal support for gender-affirming medical care to patients younger than 19, and another to end the national Suicide and Crisis Lifeline 988, which specialized in support for LGBTQ+ youth. Trump has also threatened to withhold federal funding from states that allow transgender children to play school sports.

Recent reporting also found the Trump administration also sought Social Security numbers and names of children who received gender-affirming care at a hospital in Philadelphia showing efforts aren’t letting up anytime soon.

The policies from the White House have emboldened broader anti-trans rhetoric and behavior in society.

Titus admonished Republican congressmembers who have harassed U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride of Delaware, the nation’s first elected transgender member of Congress, by continuing to misgender her during committee meetings.

West Juhl, the communications Director of Communications and Campaigns for the ACLU of Nevada, said the constant attacks show there is “an existential crisis for our community.”

“Rhetoric really is taking aim at the foundational principles from the queer liberation movement in such a very specific way,” Juhl said, referring to the movement for LGBTQ+ equality starting in the 60s. “I think the way that they talk about us now, it sounds to me like the way they talked about us back when being queer was a mental illness that would get you institutionalized.”

The administration and its backers want “to make it seem like somehow being a person of color, being an immigrant, being queer, trans, is antithetical to being an American or being part of the American dream,” said Kelley Robinson, the president of the Human Rights Campaign.

“I, for one, am not willing to cede this country that my community has put our blood, literally, sweat and tears, into,” she said. “I’m certainly not willing to cede our power.”

The roundtable focused on actions by Trump and Republicans, but many prominent Democrats have also parroted anti-trans talking points.

Third Way, a DC-based think tank that is attempting to push Democrats rightward, recently sent a memo listing words Democrats should abandon that included to LGBTQIA+ and cisgender.

Robinson said fighting for trans rights shouldn’t be partisan and is about affirming basic human rights.

“These are basic civil rights everyone deserves,” Robinson said. “We have never gotten ahead by sacrificing members of the community under the bus.”

Horsford said that conservative-backed political groups are trying to pit trans people against other groups, including Black voters. The GOP unleashed countless ads targeting trans people during the 2024 election — though Democrats rarely, if ever, campaign on trans protections.

When Horsford was the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, he said he hosted meetings with HRC to have “a conversation with some of the Black leaders in Congress to talk about this issue, because we understood that the trans issue was being directly targeted to Black voters and others to try to divide us.”

“I do think it’s important for all of us to be more supportive, to declare publicly more support, and to not shy away from difficult conversations,” Horsford said.

Hearts and mind, laws and policies

The roundtable featured a mix of trans and queer locals as well as providers and nonprofits that provide services to the LGBTQ+ community, who shared a sense of hope tempered by uncertainty.

Robinson said it was important to highlight, and share, all stories, to give weight to “the humanity of our experiences.”

“From the HIV epidemic to the attacks on marriage, we’ve always seen how our stories can not only shift hearts and minds but shape laws and policies,” she said.

Torri Shack, the head of programs at the LGBTQ+ Center of Southern Nevada, said with curtailment of resources for LGBTQ+ youth, such as mental health and gender-affirming care services, he is worried about a potential rise in suicide.

“The bottom line is that hostile rhetoric fuels the crisis and (gender) affirming care and inclusive policies save lives,” Shack said.

Some hoped to see more positive media coverage to really underscore the humanity of trans people. Others spoke of the frustration that “what we’re dealing with is that our government’s completely not ours anymore.”

“I truly believe resilience is the way that we’re going to get through this,” Shack said. “Sitting aside on the sidelines, watching all this stuff happening, feeling sad and blue and staying in our house. That is not an option anymore.”

*

Michael Lyle (MJ to some) is an award-winning journalist with Nevada Current. In addition to covering state and local policy and politics, Michael reports extensively on homelessness and housing policy. He graduated from UNLV with B.A. in Journalism and Media Studies and later earned an M.S. in Communications at Syracuse University.