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Report: How The Trump Administration, SCOTUS, Right-Wing-State Legislatures Are Systematically Erasing Basic LGBTQ+ Rights

Washington D.C. – As millions of Americans celebrated Pride Month, recognizing the 1969 Stonewall Uprising that launched the modern LGBTQ+ liberation movement in the United States, so too must supporters confront a devastating and rolling series of attacks on LGBTQ+ Americans from conservatives in power that are dismantling progress in the fight for equality. A new report from Accountable.US details how LGBTQ+ Americans, especially transgender Americans and LGBTQ+ youth, are facing an assault at all levels, from the Trump administration to the U.S. Supreme Court to right-wing dominated state legislatures around the country. This coordinated effort to strip away protections, services, and even basic acknowledgment of LGBTQ+ people represents one of the most comprehensive rollbacks of civil rights in recent memory.
“Following the Project 2025 playbook to a tee, conservatives in power at every level are trying to go back to the dark ages when LGBTQ+ Americans were criminalized for existing,” said Tony Carrk, Accountable.US Executive Director. “While the right-wing discrimination machine is hellbent on ripping away hard-fought basic civil rights from LGBTQ+ Americans, ensuring equal rights for all will always be the right path to American greatness over systematic hate and division.”
LOWLIGHTS FROM THE LATEST RIGHT-WING ASSAULT AGAINST BASIC LBGTQ+ RIGHTS:
- The Supreme Court’s June 2025 decision in United States v. Skrmetti delivered a crushing blow to transgender youth and their families by upholding Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors in a 6-3 ruling along ideological lines. This decision came despite overwhelming support from every major medical association, which recognizes gender-affirming care as life-saving, medically necessary treatment that consistently improves mental health outcomes while reducing rates of anxiety, depression, and self-harm. The case attracted fierce opposition from numerous anti-LGBTQ+ hate groups that filed amicus briefs supporting Tennessee’s ban. The Court’s validation of Tennessee’s law now paves the way for the approximately 26 states that have already enacted similar bans to continue restricting life-saving medical care.
- The Supreme Court delivered another devastating blow to LGBTQ+ students in Mahmoud v. Taylor, ruling 6-3 that parents can opt their children out of reading LGBTQ+-themed books in public schools under the guise of religious freedom and “parental rights.” As Justice Sotomayor warned in her dissent, this decision opens the floodgates for a “new front” of litigation that could allow parents to challenge virtually any school curriculum or classroom interaction that contradicts their religious beliefs, creating chaos for public schools and potentially weaponizing parental rights to further marginalize LGBTQ+ children.
- As the Supreme Court stripped access to life-saving care for transgender youth and curtailed LGBTQ+-affirming public school curricula—decisions likely to worsen the already-staggering mental health crisis for LGBTQ+ youth—the Trump administration eliminated the specialized 988 suicide prevention hotline services specifically designed for LGBTQ+ youth. This decision came despite the fact that President Trump himself had signed the bipartisan 2020 legislation creating these specialized services, acknowledging that LGBTQ+ youth are more than four times likely to contemplate suicide than their peers. The administration justified ending these life-saving services by dismissing them as part of “radical gender ideology,” demonstrating a callous disregard for the 1.8 million LGBTQ+ youth who “seriously consider”suicide each year.
- These attacks represent the implementation of Project 2025’s radical agenda to “virtually erase LGBTQ+ people from federal protections altogether.” Despite Trump’s campaign denials of any connection to Project 2025—which polled at an abysmal 4% approval rating—his administration has systematically enacted its anti-LGBTQ+ policy proposals through executive orders. The Trump administration has banned transgender people from military service (which was proposed in Project 2025 and later upheld by the Supreme Court), ordered federal agencies to scrub references to LGBTQ+ people from government websites, and attempted to eliminate inclusive language from departments including the CDC, National Park Service, State Department, and Social Security Administration.
- The assault on LGBTQ+ rights extends beyond federal action to state legislatures, where at least five states have introduced resolutions urging the Supreme Court to overturn its landmark 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. State legislators in Idaho, North Dakota, Montana, Oklahoma, Michigan, and South Dakota have introduced resolutions explicitly calling for the reversal of marriage equality.” Legal experts warnthat although these resolutions appear symbolic, they could provide the vehicle for the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority to address Obergefell once again. The Supreme Court has already demonstrated its willingness to overturn established precedents like Roe v. Wade and hinted at its openness to eliminate marriage equality. Conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, who dissented Obergefell, have already suggested the decision should be reconsidered, potentially creating a pathway for further erosion of LGBTQ+ rights.
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