With the midterm elections behind us, our nation continues to become more divided. Trump’s recent verbal attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, and immigrants, alarmed many citizens, sending them to the polls to vote for candidates that want to protect their rights, identity, or even citizenship. According to Pew Research Center, 38 percent of voters said that they cast their midterm vote to oppose Trump. Regardless of Trump’s intent to follow through, his threatening and hateful speech is infringing upon the inclusivity and tolerance that our nation once prided itself on.

In a recent speech, Trump vaguely addressed the situation saying, “They have a lot of different things happening with respect to transgender right now — you know that as well as I do — and we’re looking at it very seriously.” He then added: “I’m protecting everbody.”

The Obama administration made progressive strides for the LGBTQ+ community, working to loosen the concept of gender in education and healthcare. Just this year, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy’s administration said that gender confirmation surgery is no longer necessary to change gender on a birth certificate—a huge step for the trans community.

However, the Trump administration is threatening this progress. Trump encouraged the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a legal definition of sex under Title IX, permanently defining an individual’s sex as male or female at birth.

Based on his attitude towards the LGBTQ+ community, some people are concerned about their freedom to identify with a different gender, multiple genders or no gender.

As a member of the trans community, senior Mark Johnson considers Trump’s attack on the trans community a real threat, saying, his attempt to “define ‘gender’ in legal documents, as ‘pertaining to the sex assigned at birth,’ effectively [erases] all rights built for transgender people in America.”

The president is not only after the LGBTQ+ community, but also birthright citizens (a legal right to citizenship for all children born in the U.S. regardless of parentage). He claims that he can end birthright citizenship by defying the 14th amendment of the Constitution, that gives all people born or naturalized in the U.S. the right to an American citizenship.

Trump stated on the matter, “We’re the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States … with all of those benefits.”

In an effort to show the public that he will fulfill his campaign promises of preventing “unwanted” immigrants, Trump will attempt to continue Rebulicans’ domination in Congress.

This situation would directly impact many families across America, including that of senior Safiya Amin right here at WHS; despite being born in North Carolina, her parents are not natural-born citizens. She believes that Trump’s hateful statement was fueled by his desire to manipulate public opinion.

Don’t be deceived by what seem to be just words. Some might say that Trump’s threats are nothing major, but by simply allowing his behavior to be encouraged, it can delete years of progress and lead down us down a spiral of intolerance.