Centre County’s transgender community reeling in wake of ‘heartbreaking’ executive orders
One Centre County mother choked back tears as she stumbled over her words. But, between quiet sobs, she explained she wanted as many as possible to understand just what she was fighting against.
She watched her child’s smile fade over the past month, in tandem with the issuance of at least five executive orders from President Donald Trump seeking to roll back transgender rights and recognition. And, she tearfully acknowledged, she nearly lost her young transgender child — who’s still years away from attending prom, but had recently reached a breaking point.
“They shared not only were they having suicidal thoughts, they reached the point where they had a plan and they had a date,” the mother said, explaining her child confided in a trusted adult — a school worker — before taking action. “If (the school worker) would not have dug deep, they would not have made it through the weekend.”
She continued: “Our household is supportive and loving, but the outside onslaught is pummeling them. It’s pummeling them.”
Michel Lee Garrett, a transgender woman and a board member for Centre LGBT+, said the nonprofit organization has experienced an uptick in people seeking support. The Centre Daily Times spoke with several members of the transgender community and parents with transgender children, all of whom expressed fear, concern and anger over the executive orders and the tone of political leaders. Three spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared targeted harassment or worse. Two public figures opted to speak openly.
The executive orders varied in their reach and goals. Some continue to be challenged in the courts. But they largely follow a central theme of erasure — from removing transgender health information from government websites, to threatening funding cuts for contractors promoting “gender ideology,” to the government recognizing only two genders.
“There is a profound fear that is running through every corner of daily life for myself and for my trans siblings across the country,” Lee Garrett said. “The policies being put into place are fundamentally grounded in the denial of our existence and the denial of our right to exist.”
Too many ‘heartbreaking’ stories
Another mother from the State College area admitted life wasn’t perfect before the executive orders. She didn’t mean to imply otherwise.
Her transgender son still struggled with his mental health and dealt with some name-calling in the fall. But the mother echoed others when she said it’s only gotten harder. Even if her child isn’t on social media, it’s become impossible to avoid the outside noise.
Her middle-school child may not understand the nuances of lawmaking. But he feels the fear, and he hears the hate. The ACLU has criticized the executive orders — and filed a lawsuit — after the orders described transgender people as “mutilated” and compared their identities to a “contagion.”
A day after November’s presidential election, when Trump was declared the winner, that mother’s transgender son — who remains years away from a driver’s license — approached his parents and told them the family needed to move to Canada.
“He was already making plans and I’m like wait, wait wait,” the mother told the CDT. “He thought he had already lost his rights when (Trump) announced. And we had to explain it’s going to take all these policies to change, and it won’t happen overnight. It’s heartbreaking.”
In a separate interview on a separate day, another parent of a gender-expansive child — Lee Garrett — shared a similar story. Hers ended, her voice cracking, with the same phrase: “It’s heartbreaking.”
She recalled her child quizzing her: What’s our escape plan? Are our passports up to date? If things get really bad, where are we going to go? Are we safe here? What do we do if someone breaks into our house?
“These are not worries that children should have,” Lee Garrett said. “My child should be worrying about their homework or their math test next week. Instead, they’re worrying about our family’s safety.”
Clearing up misconceptions
State College Borough Mayor Ezra Nanes, who has a transgender daughter in middle school, wanted to make something clear: He did not choose his child’s identity, but he does love her unconditionally.
His daughter is undergoing hormone-based gender-affirming care, as “care” doesn’t necessarily equate to surgery. In fact, a 2024 study by Harvard researchers found surgery among transgender minors is exceedingly rare — virtually nonexistent under the age of 13 and impacting an average of 2.1 minors per 100,000 aged 15 to 17. (More than 9 in 10 gender-affirming surgeries for minors were chest-related procedures.)
But the Jan. 28 executive order titled “Protecting children from chemical and surgical mutilation” did not reflect those facts. Instead, the order said medical professionals were “maiming” a “growing number of impressionable children.” It talked about such medical interventions being a “stain on our Nation’s history,” and sought to ban gender-affirming surgery and hormone therapy for those under the age of 19. The legality of the order is currently being tried in the courts.
“Transgender people are being used as a political weapon,” Nanes said. “The whole framing of these executive orders makes it sound as if adults with an agenda are doing this to children against their will, and that is a completely false narrative. It is a political weapon designed to open people up to attacks and to other threats from the government.”
Nanes saw hints of his child’s identity while she was growing up. He never wanted to push her into anything — a sentiment multiple parents shared — he just wanted to be there for her. He wanted her to be happy.
“Parents do not tell their children who they are; your job is to support your child and to be there, to care for them, to guide then and help them understand who they are,” he said. “So we didn’t tell our child who she was. We didn’t seek to have a situation where our daughter is a targeted group.”
Like other parents and their families, Nanes — who is running for reelection — has talked to his wife about the next step if their daughter’s gender-affirming care is eliminated. A 2022 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that such care was associated with 60% lower odds of moderate to severe depression and 73% lower odds of suicidality.
If he eventually has to choose between his daughter and his home here, there’s no scenario where he’d leave the former for the latter. “Would you?” he asked.
Looking ahead
It’s not just parents of trans kids and their families that have been affected. It’s transgender adults too.
A Penn State employee who asked not to be identified had a consultation for gender-affirming surgery — chest-masculinization surgery, which removes breast tissue — mistakenly canceled last month by Mount Nittany Health. That came after Trump signed an executive order restricting gender-affirming care for people under 19. The Penn State employee, who uses they/them pronouns, has rescheduled with another provider, but still feels uncertainty in other aspects of their life.
They recently changed the gender marker on their license to “X” to signify they’re non-binary, with a pull toward masculinity. That was a freeing feeling. “I like to joke I’m an X-Man now,” they laughed. But they wonder if that will remain.
A proposed state Senate Bill, the “Two Gender Protection Act,” would forbid designations outside of “M” or “F” on valid IDs. It could also ban transgender and non-binary people from public bathrooms. And the Penn State employee isn’t sure what they’ll do about their passport.
“I felt really safe and accepted here,” they said, “and that paved the way for why I was so shocked in January.”
State College officially became a sanctuary for transgender people last August with a council resolution, and most of those interviewed expressed gratitude for the community support so far. But some felt it didn’t go far enough, asking where the marches and protests were while their rights erode.
Still, all five interviewed individuals worried about the future. Will they lose further legal protections? Will their gender-affirming care be restricted? What happens if they get pulled over in a nearby-but-less-welcoming town?
“If you truly care about people and you truly care about kids, then you need to care about all the children and realize a large number are part of the LGBTQ+ community,” said the mother who nearly lost her transgender child. “You may not know it, but your words and your actions and your social media posts carry weight. And they can see it, they feel it, and they internalize it — and they carry that burden themselves.”
Mental health resources
More resources, both local and national, can be found at centrelgbtplus.org and centrelgbtplus.org/resources.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 988
Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988 or chat at 988Lifeline.org
Center for Community Resources: www.ccrinfo.org, Visit 2100 E. College Ave., 24/7
The Trevor Project (Serving LGBTQ+ individuals up to age 25): /www.thetrevorproject.org, 1-866-488-7386 (24/7 crisis line)
Trans Lifeline: translifeline.org, 877-565-8860 (24/7 crisis line)
This story was originally published February 21, 2025 at 9:32 AM.
