One year into the second Trump Administration, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has concluded that the national state of emergency for LGBTQ+ Americans, first declared in June 2023, has become a "daily reality." This assessment is based on comprehensive data from the 18th Annual LGBTQ+ Community Survey, which reached nearly 15,000 adults, and qualitative insights from the nationwide American Dreams Tour.
The administration's actions are characterized as a systematic effort to erase and silence the LGBTQ+ community. Key policies include the removal of "gender identity" from federal policy, the cessation of federal data collection on LGBTQ+ individuals, the rescission of non-discrimination protections, and deep cuts to vital health services and economic support programs. These policies, which amplify strategies previously tested in state legislatures, have had severe, measurable consequences.
Key findings indicate a sharp decline in the community's well-being. Nearly half (47.5%) of LGBTQ+ adults report being "less out" in their lives, reversing decades of progress driven by visibility. Health outcomes are worsening, with discrimination in healthcare doubling the odds of an individual being in fair or poor health. Access to HIV care is becoming uneven, and two-thirds of transgender and non-binary adults report difficulty accessing healthcare. Economically, the rollback of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives has led to more hostile workplaces, while cuts to programs like SNAP have impacted an estimated 2.1 million LGBTQ+ people.
Despite these attacks, the report emphasizes the community's profound resilience. HRC membership has grown to a record 3.6 million, and grassroots efforts to create safe spaces and provide mutual aid are widespread. The document concludes that while LGBTQ+ Americans are under siege, they are undeterred in their fight for equality.
1. The Deliberate Erasure of a Community
The administration's first move was not a loud decree, but a quiet, insidious act of erasure. Federal agencies, including the CDC, the U.S. Census Bureau, and the Department of Labor, have been ordered to systematically stop collecting data on LGBTQ+ Americans.
This is not a bureaucratic change; it is a calculated strategy. Without data, there is no official record of a community's challenges, needs, or the harm inflicted upon it by policy. It allows the administration to implement discriminatory practices and then claim there is no evidence of the damage. By refusing to count a community, the government can inflict harm without accountability.
As HRC President Kelley Robinson stated, this tactic is both deliberate and dangerous.
They are erasing us from the record—not because we don't exist, but because they don't want evidence of what they're doing to us. If they don't count the harm, they don't have to answer for it.
And this official erasure is creating the cover for a devastating reversal of progress in the daily lives of LGBTQ+ people.
2. Visibility is Fading as People are Forced Back into the Closet
For generations, visibility has been the most powerful engine for progress in the LGBTQ+ rights movement. Being out to family, friends, coworkers, and neighbors has been the primary driver of acceptance and understanding. It's how hearts and minds have been changed. Now, in a shocking reversal, that progress is being undone.
The HRC survey reveals a community in retreat, driven by fear and a hostile political climate. A staggering 47.5% of LGBTQ+ adults report being "less out" somewhere in their lives over the past year. Even more—51.1%—report being "less visible" than they were a year ago.
This retreat from public life is happening in critical spaces where acceptance was once growing. LGBTQ+ Americans are becoming less visible in their workplaces (26.5%), in healthcare settings (25.4%), and in public spaces (28.3%). This is not a choice. It is a predictable consequence of policies designed to instill fear, forcing an entire community back into the shadows for their own safety.
3. Workplaces are Becoming More Hostile
The administration has launched a direct assault on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, issuing executive orders to dismantle these programs in the federal government and threatening private sector businesses that maintain them. The HRC report shows a direct and damaging link between these policies and the daily experiences of LGBTQ+ workers.
The survey data draws a direct, damning line from these anti-DEI policies to a rise in workplace hostility. Four in ten workers (39.1%) report that their employer made a DEI-related change in the last year. The impact of these changes is undeniable:
- At companies that cut DEI, reports of stigma and discrimination more than doubled (54.2% vs. 24.9%).
- Workers who report stigma are nine times more likely than non-LGBTQ+ workers to describe their workplace as hostile.
This is the real-world consequence of anti-DEI rhetoric and policy: workplaces that were once becoming safer and more inclusive are now reverting to environments of fear and hostility.
4. Basic Survival is Under Threat
Beyond the loss of visibility and workplace safety, the administration's actions represent an assault on the fundamental building blocks of life: health and financial security.
The attack on healthcare has been relentless and multifaceted. In just one year, the administration has cut $800 million in research into LGBTQ+ health, slashed over 200 federal grants for HIV research, and shut down the dedicated suicide prevention lifeline for LGBTQ+ youth. The President also made cuts to Medicaid, which covers a staggering 40% of people living with HIV, while systematically working to dismantle access to gender-affirming care.
These healthcare cuts are compounded by severe financial pressures. Cuts to the SNAP nutrition assistance program have impacted nearly 2.1 million LGBTQ+ Americans, who are more likely than the general population to rely on these benefits. It is no surprise, then, that LGBTQ+ adults are nearly twice as likely as non-LGBTQ+ adults to say their financial situation has worsened in the past year.
For the most vulnerable members of the community, the cost is immeasurable. The report finds that two-thirds of transgender and non-binary adults now experience difficulty accessing healthcare. The report's conclusion on this matter is a chilling indictment: "This is not an access problem. It is an abandonment."
Conclusion: Undeterred in the Face of a Crisis
The findings of this report are not abstract statistics; they are a portrait of a community under a coordinated, systematic assault. The erasure from public records, the retreat into the closet, the rise of workplace hostility, and the attack on basic health and financial security paint a grim picture. The challenges are immense, and the harm is real.
Yet, the report also documents an unyielding spirit of resilience. In the face of these attacks, the resolve of the LGBTQ+ community and its allies has only strengthened. In the last year alone, HRC's membership grew by 500,000 people, a clear sign that more Americans than ever are standing up to fight back. This is not a community in defeat; it is a movement rising to meet its moment.
