Trump’s victory causes mental health crisis in queer students at CSU and beyond – The Cauldron
Photo Credit: CSU LGBTQ+ Center
In the aftermath of President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in the recent elections, the LGBTQ+ community at home and across the nation has flooded crisis hotlines with reignited fear.
LGBTQ+ suicide hotline The Trevor Project reported a 700% increase in crisis calls on Nov. 6, the Wednesday after the election, while another hotline, the Rainbow Youth Project, reported that election week’s calls surpassed what they usually receive in a month.
With 40% of transgender individuals having attempted suicide, and anti-transgender laws reportedly causing up to 72% increases in suicide attempts among transgender and nonbinary youths, many are terrified of the consequences of Trump’s victory on the LGBTQ+ community.
Trump is known for his anti-LGBTQ+ stance and has openly supported people and policies that have set back the queer community, such as opposing the Equality Act, appointing anti-LGBTQ judges, banning transgender people from serving in the military and defending federal contractors’ rights to fire employees for their sexual orientation and gender identity.
The outcome of the election is having a clear impact on Cleveland State’s queer students. The Cauldron interviewed S (he/they), a transgender and bisexual student who will remain anonymous, along with Djesse Jackson (he/they) a student worker at CSU’s LGBTQ+ resource center, to discuss this impact.
How did you feel when you first heard about Trump’s victory?
S: “I felt… scared and hopeless. I started going through the 5 stages of grief in a span of 45 minutes. It just kinda felt heavy… for the past few days.”
How has this affected your mental state?
S: “I… feel like I’ve just been in a state of disassociation for the past few days. Like, I’m there… but not really there. Life doesn’t feel real. I just feel subhuman knowing so many people, so many people in this government, would choose someone who doesn’t want me to live my life.”
Do you feel unsafe?
S: “Yeah. I feel like within his presidency all the homophobes and f***ing crazy people lurking in the corners are gonna become even more vocal about their views. Because, I mean, they share a president who has the same views as them, so they have more of a platform now. A lot of us feel unsafe. Like genuinely unsafe. I’ve seen people make videos specifically telling queer and trans people not to kill themselves. When you have to make videos telling a group of people not to end their lives, that probably means something is wrong.”
How have classmates and staff been making you feel about this election?
S: “Everyone else is acting like nothing happened. Which is freaky considering a big chunk of us might just lose our rights.”
Have you used any of the school’s resources to provide yourself with support?
S: “I probably should. I might go to the counseling center, I don’t know. I heard mixed things about it. But… I’ve been saying since before this election even happened that if he gets elected… we’re going to lose a lot of people. We’re going to lose a lot of queer people, we’re going to lose a lot of trans people, we’re going to lose a lot of people of color. Our government doesn’t want us here. Our government fundamentally doesn’t care if we live or die.”
Do you feel any resentment for people who voted for Trump?
S: “Of course I do. You are voting against all your mothers, all your sisters, all your daughters, all your nieces, all your cousins, all your friends. If you vote for that f****ing dude, and you are close to anyone that’s a woman, you don’t actually care about women. If you voted for Trump, and on the off chance that you have queer friends, you do not care about them.”
How has social media been affecting you right now?
S: “I mean, I have all the same sentiments they do. Even if I wasn’t on social media, the same things they’re saying would still be lingering in the back of my mind. I’m just trying to make it past the next four years, and hope I don’t kill myself or get killed in the process.”
Are you worried you’re going to have to go back in the closet/detransition?
S: “Essentially yeah. He’s not going to let transgender people identify with the pronouns they want or need to be called. Denying them hormone therapy or the right to socially transition is going to cause suicide rates to spike. It is going to cause transgender people to kill themselves.”
Trump won by the majority vote. Do you believe the majority of people share his views on queer people?
S: “Probably yes. If you’re voting for him, you probably already are bigoted in the first place. I mean, Kamala was way more qualified to be president than him. She has experience in all three branches of the government! She knows what she’s doing! He does not!”
What do you think is going to happen to your quality of life over the next four years?
S: “It’s going to go down. Everything’s going to go down. It’s going to be harder for me to be who I am, whether it’s here or when I go out into the workforce.”
Are these negative feelings getting in the way of your day to day life?
S: “I’ve been trying to distract myself with school and other people. I know if I let myself sit in what I’m feeling, just kind of linger in there, it’s not going to be pretty. I’ve cried twice today. That’s… something that doesn’t happen often.”
Support Systems at Cleveland State University
These sentiments are reflected in the LGBTQ+ resource center, with student worker Djesse reporting an increase in students coming in for support.
“The room on average would get 19-20 students a day, but there’s been an increase… especially the day after the election, the mood was just down,” Djesse shared.
In an effort to accommodate more students, the center has been working with its small staff to create a welcoming, supportive environment:
“We try to give people relaxing things to do, and the faculty and staff made posters to tell students they are valid and worthy.”
Djesse urges queer students to stay strong during this hardship.
“We’re going to make it through this,” they added. “Being a queer person, being a trans person, is knowing adversity. We’ve lived through it before. We lived through it being illegal. We lived through Bush’s proposed amendment to make being gay illegal. We moved through the aids crisis and having our needs being ignored by the government. It was difficult then, but we made it through that, so I know we can make it through this. We’ve made it through those times, and I know we can make it through this.”
When asked how queer students can cope with election anxiety, Djesse stressed the importance of community during hard times:
“Community is more important than ever. Not just coming here, but going to the Lgtbq+ center in greater Cleveland, make sure you’re connecting to people. That’s going to be the most important of these next four ears.”
Resources for students
Struggling students can refer to several LGBTQ+ student services at CSU, including the LBTQ+ center, a place to meet and support other queer students, and group and individual counseling offered by the school’s Counseling Center. Regular office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Monday through Friday. For after-hours crisis counseling, students can call (216) 687-2277.
“As cheesy as it is,” said Djesse, “I really do want queer and trans people to know we see you, we love you, we care about you and we’re going to make it through this.”