**Transgender Americans Express Fresh Worries Over Trump’s Proposed Policies**

As President-elect Donald J. Trump prepares to take office, transgender Americans and their allies are expressing growing concern over his proposed policies. Trump's campaign promises to "keep men out of women's sports" and halt Medicare and Medicaid funding to hospitals offering gender transition treatments to minors have stoked anxiety within the community.

Throughout the recent election cycle, a slew of attack ads targeted Democrats for their stance on transgender rights. One Trump campaign ad declared, "Kamala is for they/them," contrasting this with, "President Trump is for you." According to Republican strategists, the goal of these ads was less about detailing policy positions and more about portraying Democratic priorities as out of touch with mainstream America—a tactic adopted by numerous Republican candidates.

However, these political maneuvers have had a significant emotional impact on transgender individuals. For many, being used as a political scapegoat has been a demoralizing experience. Austin Johnson, a transgender professor of sociology at Kenyon College and research director at the Campaign for Southern Equality, described the distress and indignity of seeing such ads. "There's a bit of shame, or embarrassment, like a loss of dignity, when I'm watching one of those ads, knowing my friends or my colleagues are also watching it," he said. Particularly troubling to Dr. Johnson was an advertisement suggesting that allowing trans athletes in locker rooms aligned with their gender identity posed a risk of assault.

As Trump prepares to implement his campaign promises, which include measures to cut federal funding to schools that he claims teach "gender indoctrination," and enforcing restrictions on transgender participation in sports, the future seems uncertain for transgender rights advocates. Even though the specifics of how these policies will be enacted remain unclear, legal experts anticipate a series of court challenges.

For transgender Americans, the transition of power signifies not just a policy shift, but a continuation of being a contentious issue in political and public discourse, further deepening their fears and concerns.