Trump’s Anti-Trans Theatrics and Threats Test Maine and California
Leading Off: A multi-pronged, multi-state assault on young trans people. Trump keeps losing in court. Trans folks take pride in a banned flag in Utah. The top story lines as the week begins.
by Assigned Media
President Trump is waging a multi-pronged attack on young trans people on both coasts that will play out further this week.
In Maine, state education officials and the governor have resisted his demands to ban trans athletes from school sports despite his unlawful threat to pull federal funding. “This is about the rule of law” Gov. Janet Mills said, noting that federal and state law bar discrimination.
Mills has stood up to Trump before on the issue. But her state became a particular target of anti-trans activists after a Republican politician, Representative Laurel Libby, posted a photo of a high school pole vaulter who is trans on her official Facebook page, identifying the athlete by name, providing personal details and pointedly calling her a “male.” Libby was censured by the Maine assembly for exploiting a minor, but she has persisted with her attacks on social and right-wing media.
Trump is using the same tactics in California, where he has also threatened to withhold federal funding over a state law that protects the privacy of transgender school students. Despite the threat, state education officials say so far that they are standing by state law, which protects trans students from being outed against their will.
In both states, the administration says it is undertaking vague “investigations,” using that as a cudgel to extract the sort of “deal” it has made with law firms, universities and media companies to surrender established rights.
While Mills in Maine has been firm — “See you in court” she told Trump in February — the California governor and 2028 presidential aspirant, Gavin Newsom, has seemed willing to abandon civil rights for trans people. His recent podcast remarks did not go unnoticed by Trump’s education secretary, who told Newsom to “be clear about the harms of gender confusion.”
Theatrics and legally dubious threats are a large part of the administration’s anti-trans campaign. These vague investigations will generate more deadlines this week involving both states — and more opportunities to see the real character of all public leaders.
Trans members of the military have been Trump’s other favorite target for discrimination of late, but his would-be ban on our service encountered setbacks in federal courts in Washington State and New York.
U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle in Washington became the second judge to shoot down the ban late last week, calling it an "unsupported, dramatic and facially unfair exclusionary policy.” U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, ruling in New York, had earlier called it “soaked in animus.”
The administration says it will appeal.
Being seen, being loud: Thousands of trans people, families and allies began rallying this weekend ahead of Trans Day of Visibility, which is today. “Trans is beautiful — and we are all throughout human history,” Precious Brady-Davis, a pioneering trans politician in Cook County, Ill., told a large crowd in Chicago.
In Salt Lake City, Utah’s capital, trans folks and friends unfurled a 200-by-30-foot transgender flag — billed as the world’s largest — as a pointed reminder that state law will officially ban all pride flags on government property. A second Transgender Day of Visibility celebration will be held today in Utah, at 5 PM in West Valley City.
Here are some of the Trans Day of Visibility protests coming up today across the country:
Harrisburg, PA
3/31/25 12:00 PM
A rally at the Main Capitol Rotunda in the Pennsylvania state Capitol in Harrisburg.
Trans Day of Visibility Rally
Washington, DC
3/31/25 4:00 PM
A rally at the National Mall, featuring words from activists and over a dozen members of congress.
Rally for Trans Day of Visibility
Austin, TX
3/31/25 5:30 PM
A rally and march at the Texas state Capitol.
Trans Day of Visibility Legislative Action Day
Hartford, CT
3/31/25 10:30 AM
An opportunity to meet with legislators to advocate at the Connecticut state Capitol.
And a heads up: If you've organized an upcoming protest and want to get the word out email AssignedMediaProtests@gmail.com