Recent executive orders by President Trump are having a trickle down effect on our local community. This past Sunday afternoon, KVNF's Lisa Young traveled to the Yarrow Taproom in Austin, Colorado.
Patrons at the bar, just a few blocks from a church that hosts the Delta County Republican Party Central Committee meetings, gathered to enjoy an adult beverage, chat with friends or watch the NFL playoff game on the big screen.
Among the clientele were members of Delta Pride, a local LGBTQ plus support group. The group came for more than drinks and food. They congregated to find solidarity, camaraderie and comfort following President Trump's statement that the federal government will only recognize two sexes in his latest move.
Trump is also seeking to bar transgender people from enlisting in the military and serving openly. He is also slashing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the armed forces.
The recent attacks on the trans community have sent shock waves of fear, sadness and distress to a number of LGBTQ+ individuals, their families and allies on Colorado's mainly conservative Western Slope.
"There's every emotion you can think about. There's fear and then when you see your community or people standing up, there's joy. There's, you know, power, there's hope. But generally, mostly fear," said Xavier Saenz, a proud individual of Mexican heritage, an open trans man and founder of Delta Pride.
Xavi says he's experiencing a double threat from the current administration, which is also targeting specific racial groups for deportation.
"Most most people can hide, you know, if they're LGBTQ. You can't tell just by looking at someone you know all the time. But being brown, you can't hide that. So right now, those fears are a little bit stronger," he said.
The Delta, Colorado native says despite the persistence of Trump and his followers to wipe out the trans community, history shows they will fail.
"We are not the first generation to go through this. We are just experiencing what people 70 years ago were experiencing. They've tried to wipe us out several times, but we're resilient people and we've always been here. You can't wipe us out. We're going to be born to everybody. It doesn't matter what population you are or what population they want you to be a part of. Queer people will exist no matter how many times you try to get rid of us," said the local LGBTQ leader.
Lexi, a Delta Pride Board member who also serves as the LGBTQ outreach coordinator at Cedaredge Methodist Church and identifies as a trans woman, also spoke about the tenacity of trans individuals.
"They're already strong. They have come out against all odds losing friends, losing family, getting discriminated against persecution. And they were strong enough to make it through all of that. We're strong enough to make it through this, too," she said.
Under the current administration there's already been an increase in public displays of hatred actions that were previously held in check.
"One of my friends was accosted in the grocery store the other day just trying to shop for groceries, not in the bathroom, nothing else and people were calling the F word and a few other things," said Lexi.
The threat to trans youth is also on full display, as Delta County School Board members are set to review a draft policy on preferred gender name changes tomorrow evening. The district's policy committee is asking for religious exemptions to the law for teachers and staff who oppose trans rights.
Xavi, a former student in the district and now a parent, says using a preferred name is nothing new and is a simple matter of showing respect .
"When it comes to names. I mean, everybody has a preferred name. You know, if you were born a William and you get called Willy or Will or Bill or Billy, that's a preferred name. When you grow up, you're like, Nope, I'm William. No, that's preferred. It doesn't make any sense to me. We all have preferred names and we do that out of respect for one another, period."
The pressure on trans individuals nationwide has led to some to take drastic measures, including stockpiling medications while their Medicaid status is in limbo. Others are finding it difficult to get passports, as the Trump State Department is no longer accepting gender correction information.
Lexi commented on Trump's negative impact on trans persons including they're willingness to leave the country.
"I see so much pain coming in so many directions from what he's already done. I actually had to make a promise I never thought I'd have to make. That I would help a trans person seek asylum in Canada if things got too bad and that is just unbelievable to me that I would have to promise an American citizen that I would help them flee the country."
Lexi and other members of the trans community are once again calling on their faithful allies to lend their voices and support.
"Well, the first message they give to allies is my profound gratitude. Unfortunately, the way the world works, our allies voices actually ring louder than ours do. And so I am profoundly grateful and indebted to our allies, especially the white, cis hetero males, because people listen to them," Lexi said, adding.
" They won't listen to me and my lived experience, in the fact that I know more about being trans than I ever will. But they will listen to our allies. Your importance cannot be overstated. And all we really need from you is your voice. We need you to tell people the things that they don't listen to coming from us."
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