On Trans-Generational (Well)Being and the Rising Threat of Erasure

A cascade of executive orders issued within the first few months of the second Trump administration jeopardized the well-being of transgender and gender-expansive (or trans) people of all ages. These abuses of power have restricted gender-affirming care for youth; replaced gender with a binary definition of sex on government documents; withdrawn funding from trans-focused research; and removed data related to trans health from government websites. Foreseeing the mounting threat of erasure facing the trans community, an older trans participant from a recent study reported with alarm, “They're trying to legislate away my existence.” This article explores the threat of erasure that trans people of all ages faced in the first ninety days of Trump's presidency. Writing as a nurse researcher and nonbinary person living somewhere between youth and elderhood, I weave together elements of gender studies, health research, and my lived experience to illustrate the impact of these threats on the well-being of trans Americans across generations. Drawing from scholarship on care work in the trans community, I describe the ways in which trans-generational acts of “showing up” for one another may enable trans Americans to resist erasure, to be and to be well in the world.