‘I assume I’ll be driven out the country’: Workers fear Trump is leading a purge of LGBTQ+ federal employees
When Wylie joined the Postal Service in December, they had two very contradictory thoughts about the coming return of Donald Trump.
They knew, as a nonbinary transgender person, that the next four years would be hell. Trump, after all, had made attacking what he called “transgender insanity” a central part of his 2024 campaign and his first administration. But Wylie didn’t want to hide who they are, either.
Instead, working with the public each day would be a quiet way of resisting the demonization from the White House, while also keeping an ear to the ground in case the public mood grew too violent.
“I wanted to be out in the streets, be where people can see me, and also see the day-to-day on the streets so that if anything starts changing I perhaps have time to respond,” said Wylie, who asked not to use their full name for their safety.
Since taking office, the Trump administration has pushed through a suite of major policy changes regarding how the government treats LGBTQ+ people, including federal employees. It has denied legal recognition of trans people, barred them from the military, ended federal spending on gender-affirming healthcare, and sought to eliminate any trace of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work or language within the government.
There have also been more subtle changes, like the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission dropping investigations into anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination, the rescinding of an order barring discrimination against federal contractors, and a government website eliminating references to transgender people on a page about the Stonewall Uprising.
Federal workers told The Independent these steps amount to a new Lavender Scare, the paranoid, Cold War-era purge of LGBTQ+ people from the federal government that caused thousands to leave federal service for good. None of those interviewed for this story wanted to use their full names for fear of reprisals.
In agencies and offices around the country, LGBTQ+ government officials are wrestling with what they can say around their colleagues, which bathrooms they can use, and how they’ll survive now that the government won’t fund gender-affirming healthcare.
Wylie has alternated between defiance and defense, continuing to using the bathroom of their choice in federal buildings, while also engaging an immigration attorney in case they have to flee the country if Trump goes further down what they see as his “Nazi” path.
“I kind of assume that I will be driven out of the country in the next four years,” Wylie added. “I am an Eagle Scout. I love this country, but it clearly doesn’t love me back.”
Wylie, who uses gender-affirming hormones, told The Independent it is basically impossible for them to physically hide their gender identity. Others within the government say they’ve tried to remain as anonymous as possible, given the chilling climate around them.
Brigette, who works at the Department of Interior in Colorado, is a trans woman, but her government documents and email address still use her previous name.
“I have the profound benefit at the moment of still passing as a cisgender man and being in a straight-passing relationship,” she said.
Brigette had been meaning to change her government documents to reflect her identity, but the Trump administration has declared there are only two immutable sexes which begin at birth, man and woman, and suspended the process for those seeking to change the gender on their U.S. passport.
