Seoul Gazette - 'Everyday attack' - Trans youth coming of age in Trump's America

But President Donald Trump's crackdown on the rights of the LGBTQ community in his first 100 days has forced Crean, who is trans, to take to the streets and become a full-time activist.

"It's been a lot. I feel like I'm going to something every week," Crean said, reeling off a list of rallies and events staged in opposition to Trump. "I've been propelled into action."

In little more than three months, Trump has upended modest reforms on trans rights and protections for the small community in the workplace, academia and federal institutions.

One of Trump's first moves was to halt the issuing of documents with a gender-neutral "X" in place of a marker for male or female.

"There are only two genders -- male and female," Trump said in January.

In practice that has meant some transgender individuals receiving birth certificates, passports and other official documents with gender markers they see as wrong.

"I, along with other people, rushed to change our legal documents," said Crean in a park near their home of 16 years in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan.

"Recently my new birth certificate came in the mail along with an 'X' gender passport, so now all of my legal documents have an X.

"My existence is sort of (in) contradiction to Trump's statement."

Nearly every week has seen Trump pass executive orders or make comments targeting communities like undocumented migrants and pro-Palestinian student demonstrators.

Trump has specifically tried to ban transgender people from serving in the military, erase references to trans people in official travel advice, and punish states that allow trans competitors in sport.

- 'Weighing on all of us' -

"Everybody has the sense of hating what they see on the news. You get a new notification, 'breaking news, Trump did something crazy or illegal'," Crean said speaking in front of the George Washington Bridge linking New York and New Jersey.

"It's something that's weighing on all of us -- not just me as a trans kid, but all of my friends, people of color, other queer people. It's an everyday attack on us," they said as couples sunbathed and music played on Bluetooth speakers nearby.

Fitting in studies and visiting colleges alongside a packed protest calendar has been a balancing act for Crean.

"Sometimes it's my parents saying 'No, you have to go do your homework!'

"I have to be in school, I have to be a student, I have to be a kid. But then I also have to bear the burden of living life as a trans kid in today's America."

Crean's father Nathan Newman, 57, said "it's been good that they've been able to channel it, not into just feeling hopeless -- but seeing that they can take action."

Deciding to which colleges to visit and apply has taken on an edge under Trump and the anti-trans climate he has fostered.

"There's so many colleges I'm looking at (in a) state that will not allow me to have health care, and if I go off campus, I will not be able to use the bathroom that corresponds with my gender identity.

"The current laws against trans people are a factor in my college decisions, because, depending on the state, I won't have rights."

Trans people face a web of laws and local regulations on everything from accessing gender-affirming care to the use of bathrooms, depending on what state they are in.

Even in deeply Democratic New York, at least one hospital network paused access to treatment for trans youth after Trump issued a decree banning such care for under-19s which Crean described as "caving to Trump."

"There's (been) policies like this happening for years, but we honestly thought we were safe in a blue state," said Crean referring to the Democrats' signature color.

"So seeing that was sort of one of the first signs that this Trump administration was going to be different than everything before."

Crean is unbowed, vowing to keep up protest action -- with an eye on Trump's 100th day in office.

"People are getting out in the streets who usually wouldn't," they said.

"There's probably gonna be something on April 30 that I'm gonna go to, but right now, we're just focusing on the current issue of the week."

D.Choi--SG