Disclaimer:

Due to identity protection, Portrait has granted anonymity to some individuals in this story, whose names have been replaced with fake ones in order to tell the story authentically. The pseudonyms are Jordan Brown and Alex Johnson, trans students at the high school.

“The Fox News decision desk can now officially project that Donald Trump will become the 47th president of the United States.”

After hearing this proclamation, millions of voters nacross the country erupted into applause. But for many members of the LGBTQ+ community, this statement sounded more like a prison sentence than a promise of prosperity.

“My heart sank the next morning.”

“Not again. We did this again.”

“I am not being dramatic when I say it was one of the worst days of my life.”

These were the reactions of some of the LGBTQ+ students at East Lansing High School after hearing that Trump was elected.

Anti-trans sentiment was a cornerstone of the Trump administration’s campaign. They spent over $21 million on antitrans and LGBTQ ads as of Oct. 9, according to ABC News. Despite this, Veronica Wojahn, a sign language interpreter at ELHS who was born intersex and transitioned at 27, wasn’t concerned when Trump won the election.

“I didn’t want him to win, but every politician says what they’re going to do,” Wojahn said. “You don’t really know if they’re going to follow through with [it].”

Since Trump has taken office, he has prohibited trans women from competing in women’s sports, banned transgender people from serving in the military and restricted access to gender-affirming care for people under the age of 19.

“I think he wants to use [the trans community] as a scapegoat so he can do whatever he wants,” Wojahn said.

Recently, violence and aggression toward members of the queer community has increased. According to the Human Rights Campaign, attacks based on gender identity increased by 16 percent and those based on sexual orientation increased by 23 percent from 2023 to 2024.

And this barely scratches the surface of the harassment that goes unreported.

“[People] feel like they have free reign on whatever they [want to] say,” Wojahn said. “Like sensitivity is out the window.”

Walking in the halls of the high school, many “jokes” can be heard that insult the queer community. Jeers that range from “you’re so gay!” to derogatory slurs plague this generation’s humor. Mia Gorchow (10), who identifies as lesbian, has noticed this among her peers.

“It’s not funny,” Gorchow said. “It’s gross and disrespectful.”

Trump claimed that “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female” in his executive order issued Jan. 20, titled “Defending women from gender ideology extremism and restoring biological truth to the Federal Government.” Jordan Brown (11), a student at the high school who began transitioning five years ago, sees this as a violation of both science and sociology.

“There’s [always] been evidence of trans people and gender non-conforming people, so it’s completely idiotic that they’re trying to rewrite history,” Brown said.

Alex Johnson (11), a trans student at the high school, began transitioning during Trump’s first term. Though there was a period of fewer restrictions on gender-affirming care for trans youth during the Biden administration, Johnson is again worried about obtaining access to vital procedures and hormones.

“I’m nervous I won’t [be able] to live my best life,” Johnson said.

Because of these restrictions, Johnson is considering moving abroad for college. Brown has also expressed interest in leaving the U.S.

“A lot of my friends have been considering going to school out of the country,” Brown said. “If things get much worse, that could totally be an option.”

Despite the rise in harassment and federal displays of hatred toward LGBTQ+ people, many individuals in East Lansing are able to come home to loving and supporting family members.

“I’m very lucky that a lot of my family, even though they might not understand something, isn’t discriminatory,” Wojahn said. “Everyone that I grew up with was okay with it. I [wasn’t raised] in a very open-minded liberal family, so it shocked me.”

Together, the queer community is fighting against these new restrictions and increase of hate toward LGBTQ+ members. Rallies and marches are being held across the country, and another is currently planned for March 30 at the Lansing Capitol.

“They are going to stop at nothing to try and tear the queer community down,” Brown said. “But it just means we all have to band together.

NPR recordings once filled every corner of their home. Now, these everyday stories lay abandoned, the play button unpressed.

Laughter and conversations formerly bounced around the chairs of their dinner table, each reflecting the happenings of the day. But in the past few weeks, the only sounds heard are the clinking of forks against plates and the swipe of a napkin across a chin.

The mornings, once a time to enjoy the familiar sense of family, are gravely quiet. They brush past each other like ghosts, getting ready for yet another 24 hours under the Trump administration.

In Leo Kendall’s (12) household, silence has taken root.

“There’s this sense of desperation,” Kendall said.

Kendall’s parents are both scientists. Their stepmom works for the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and their dad is a research professor assigned to Michigan State University (MSU) — both of whom receive much of their funding from the federal government.

In just a week after President Trump’s inauguration, memos were sent out to thousands of federal programs like these, reading: “Federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance.”

The next day, funding was frozen.

Though this original memo was rescinded shortly after, confusion and lack of funding persisted, affecting federal employees across the country. Kendall’s stepmom lost up to $100,000 in budget cuts, while their dad faced other financial struggles at his workplace.

“[My dad] was staying up until 3 a.m. and then waking up at 5 a.m. to write [this grant],” Kendall said. “He had to put it all down and stop [after] he spent all that time not spending time with his family and suffering over this grant.”

Faced with a sudden lack of funding, concern for their salaries swirled around Kendall’s home mixed with doubt about maintaining their positions themselves.

“There’s days where I don’t speak to my parents at all because they’re so shut down from all the news that we’re taking in,” Kendall said. “It’s constantly a waiting game of ‘do they get to keep their jobs?’”

This is a similar reality for Rachel Hunt (10), whose mom works for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). According to Hunt, her mother and her coworkers’ jobs are under siege from the federal government.

“We’re nervous that she’ll lose her job,” Hunt said.

According to USA Today, within the FDA alone, around 1,000 employees were originally cut from their positions. With this abrupt number of firings, Hunt is concerned about the potential of her mom heading back into the job market during such a competitive time.

“It’s stressful because losing my mom’s income [would be] a big deal for us,” Hunt said.

Both Hunt and Kendall can agree on the uncertainty each new day brings under the current political climate. In the quiet of their home, Kendall can only speculate on what the next day, week, month or year will bring to their family.

“The scariest part is that I don’t have an outlook on the next four years,” Kendall said. “I have no clue what’s going to happen.”

Due to identity protection, Portrait has granted anonymity to an individual in this story, whose name has been replaced with a fake one in order to tell the story authentically. The pseudonym is Shelby Thomas.

It’s on the news. It’s on social media. It’s talked about casually in the hallways of her high school, and frantically amongst her friends and family.

Shelby Thomas (12) cannot escape the suffocating feelings of anger and fear when deportation is mentioned. It’s become unavoidable.

“There’s always so many things that are said about what could happen and what will happen when it comes to getting deported,” Thomas said. “So you can’t really know what will happen for sure. You have to choose if you’re gonna believe it or not, even though it’s so scary.”

Thomas constantly worried about the seemingly endless possibilities for her family, who are made up of first and second-generation immigrants from Mexico and Cuba. She tried her best to separate her emotions from what she was seeing on social media about immigrants being deported with limited legal status.

But when the problem came to her family, it became impossible to ignore.

“When I found out my dad was getting sent to Guantanamo Bay, I couldn’t let myself believe it,” Thomas said. “No child should have to go through that.”

Thomas instantly sprung into action. She began making phone calls to family and friends who aren’t from the U.S. to share her family’s experience, even though she knew it could have put her in a bad position.

“I was saying things like ‘I just want to let you know that this happened to my dad,’ and we all knew how sad it was that they had to hear that from me,” Thomas said.

Thomas felt like she needed togive them any information that she could so that they could at least try to be prepared. Thomas discovered that her dad had been deported in early March, but he is one of many. Over 11,000 immigrants lacking legal status have been deported since President Trump was inaugurated.

“I don’t even have the best relationship with my dad,” Thomas said. “But it has still affected me so much already knowing that it’s happened personally to me and my family.”

Thomas’s dad came to America with a visa. He didn’t force himself into the country, so her family is having trouble understanding why he had to be forced out.

“My mom and my brother are just very upset about the whole thing,” Thomas said. “And if people need to be deported it should be dealt with more appropriately, not just a rushed mass deportation.”

Thomas has begun to notice small changes in how she perceives the environments around her since her dad has been deported.

“When I was at the basketball game I just didn’t stand up for the national anthem,” Thomas said. “Some of my friends started laughing, and I made it clear that I was not joking.”

Even though her experience is rather recent, it has impacted Thomas’s life deeply.

“I think about it every day,” Thomas said. “I definitely need to talk about it every day, I never thought that my dad would ever get deported.”

Moving forward has been difficult for Thomas so far. Without knowing for certain what the future holds for her family in the next four years, she now has a better understanding when it comes to the gravity of this situation.

“This whole thing has made me realize that I want to be more active and bring more awareness to these situations,” Thomas said. “Because honestly no matter what happens next, this is serious. This is actually happening.”

On Feb. 28, the Aato family received an email from Head Start, the preschool that their son, Dalmar, attends.

“Due to the Executive Order signed by President Trump on January 27, 2025, we have to close all of our Head Start sites and services until further notice. CACS Head Start will inform families if anything changes.”

This email, published by WLNS, was sent out to families from the Capital Area Community Services (CACS) Head Start.

“They just basically were like, ‘there’s no more school and we’re gonna let you know when we’re back open,’” Kareema Aato (12), Dalmar’s older sister said.

This abrupt closing was not an anomaly. The NBC News station reported that over 45 Head Start programs have faced funding delays, causing some to temporarily shut down. These funding delays were caused by the Trump administration’s federal funding freeze that was imposed at the end of January. Federal funding is pertinent for Head Start programs to run. According to the National Head Start Association, the money goes to paying the rent, buying the food needed to feed the children and meeting payroll for the teachers and staff.

Head Start preschools are a crucial resource for many low income families because the programs are free and federally funded. The Michigan Head Start Association has been around since 1967, serving 35,000 children and their families in over 100 Head Start programs.

Head Start was contacted numerous times for comment about how the shutdown affected the teachers and families, and didn’t return calls or emails.

According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children, preschool is a pivotal time for young children because it aids in their physical, social, and emotional development, as well as improving their language, literacy and cognitive skills. In addition, families with two working parents depend on preschools for child care.

“My parents are working, and it’s like, ‘who’s gonna stay with him?’” Aato said.

The email arrived less than 24 hours before the next school day, leaving families shocked and scrambling to find alternative options.

“It was just really weird,” Aato said. “It was just very sudden, because all his stuff was still in the building and, I mean, we could go get it, but it’s still really weird.”

The closing only lasted a day after funding was restored, but Aato hopes that it won’t happen again.

“I hope it doesn’t happen again because what is he gonna do at home? He’s just gonna sit and watch TV,” Aato said. “So it’s definitely better for him to go to preschool.”

While programs like Head Start are at a greater risk of suffering consequences of federal policy, public schools aren’t entirely removed from risk.

According to ELPS Director of Finance Lisa Allen, federal contribution accounts only make up 1.8 percent of the general fund revenue, which makes the impact on school programming limited. Furthermore, she acknowledged that 57 percent of food services fund revenue comes from federal sources. In a district that provides free breakfast and lunches, there is a possibility that funding changes could impact future student access to these resources.

This story was originally published on Portrait on March 20, 2025.