A year ago today we were in a dark place. Trump had just been reelected and although it took us back to the utter shock of the 2016 election, this one somehow hurt more. Perhaps because we thought we knew better this time.
I went back and read my last column of 2024. It wasn’t a beacon of hope. It was impossible to predict what exactly would happen when Trump took office, but we had a pretty clear idea of what his agenda would be.
On his first day back at the White House, Trump issued an executive order eliminating guidelines that promoted non-discrimination protections for the LGBTQ+ community in healthcare, public health and welfare programs. He also withdrew guidance to let states collect information on sexual orientation and gender identity in public heath systems like Medicaid and CHIP.
A series of executive orders were targeted at the transgender community, banning gender-affirming care for persons under 19 years old, restricting sports participation to “biological sex” only and reinstating a ban on transgender service members in the military. Not a good start for our community.
The tone was set and fear encompassed our daily routine, something especially true for our undocumented siblings. We watched daily news reports of masked officers taking people off the streets and deported them without due process, including Andry Hernández Romero — a gay hairdresser who fled Venezuela and was in America legally.
We also saw a distinct erasure of community. Federal resources for LGBTQ+ people were removed from the administration’s websites. In a seemingly cruel move, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration overseeing the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline removed the option for callers under the age of 25 that identify as LGBTQ+ to be connected to counselors trained to support them.
Locally we saw Governor Ron DeSantis’ Department of Transportation literally erase us off the streets as FDOT painted over rainbow crosswalks and murals. To mask their anti-LGBTQ+ cruelty, they expanded that campaign to erase all asphalt art.
The administration started a war on diversity, equity and inclusion, convincing the country that these were bad words. They denied acknowledging Pride Month and World AIDS Day. They sent corporations into a panic and scared them away from the level of support they had been giving our community. It is hard to believe all of this, and more, happened in just a year.
I am happy, though, to say that some of my predictions for 2025 were wrong. I figured Project 2025 would fast track a case to the Supreme Court that would end marriage equality. Instead, the court refused to hear a case brought by Kim Davis’ lawyers.
I had also predicted that the Insurrection Act would be invoked during the No Kings rally ensuring a Trump Dynasty for years to come. I am happy to report that hasn’t happened… yet.
What did happen is that people stood up against the hate that has been coming from the highest levels of our government. People came out en masse to repaint the rainbow crosswalk outside of Pulse, leading to several arrests. A couple of businesses, Mojoman and Se7enBites, welcomed rainbows to be painted in their parking spaces.
The No Kings rallies drew huge crowds. Communities created systems to alert neighborhoods of ICE raids. We started to see that the despair of December 2024 was turning into action in 2025.
Then hope turned into a reality during the November election. In race after race, people chose to abandon the current trajectory of our country and forge a new path. We saw the light at the end of the tunnel.
I’m not trying to be naïve about the current state of our country. I understand we are not yet on the other side of this — but we can see a way out. We must work hard to make change happen. We must be visible and we must show up.
If we can do this, we can change Congress in 2026. The ballot box is the battlefield and your vote is your strongest weapon. Use it and encourage others to use theirs. The election of 2026 is our chance to set things right.
I predict we will make it happen. The Trump regime will start to collapse. Maybe my prediction that Trump would lose wasn’t wrong, it was just in the wrong year.
In this issue of Watermark Out News, we celebrate the brave people in our community who have done something remarkable this year. It’s our chance to celebrate the good things we can do, the hope we can spread and the community we build together.
This is my last column of 2025. Happy holidays to you and your loved ones, have a wonderful New Year and remember to stay visible, stay strong and support each other.
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