MEGHAN FREEZE
Contributing Reporter
With the rise of controversial legislation from the Trump administration, Delaware organizations and politicians are working to ensure the safety of the LGBTQ+ community.
A slew of executive orders from President Donald Trump has particularly impacted the transgender community. Upon taking office, Trump promised to recognize only two genders, male and female. Actions to enforce these policies included blocking new passports for transgender and nonbinary Americans.
Delaware organizations and politicians have come together to combat anti-transgender policy on the local level. State Senator Daniel Cruce, who represents Delaware’s First Senate District, has played a prominent role in advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community: he is the first openly gay man to be elected to the state Senate.
“There’s a full-fledged attack and war on our [trans] community,” Cruce said. “It hits close to home in Delaware because of our newly elected congresswoman, Sarah McBride. Sarah is such an incredible leader and the hate is felt so loudly here because she is our congressperson for our state, not just our queer community.”
McBride faced a series of criticism from fellow members of Congress, particularly over her right to access the women’s restroom in the Capitol. Despite being scrutinized by colleagues, McBride has put her focus on issues critical to Delawareans.
Alongside his seat in the Delaware State Senate, Cruce is part of the pride council of United Way of Delaware, an organization advocating for bills that support the queer community.
The organization provides a space for LGBTQ+ leaders to collaborate and drive impact for community members. Their work is focused on improving the lives of queer Delawareans and addressing challenges they may face.
An intersectional approach is taken for queer youth in schools, which involves strengthening Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) clubs and building upon the confidence of students.
Through his legislative work, Cruce took the lead for a resolution on International Transgender Day-of-Visibility. He wanted to ensure it did not become silenced by executive orders.
“I brought folks from our trans community to the general assembly to talk about the work they do and the pressures they feel,” Cruce said. “They are scientists, data analysts, teachers, and they are all around us. I wanted to celebrate that in our general assembly, in front of people that may or may not care that much for trans people.”
Cruce explained that more action included efforts to move an amendment forward in the state constitution to protect gay marriage. If moved to the constitution, it would be almost impossible to undermine.
Legislative action is not the only avenue for LGBTQ+ rights in Delaware, as numerous organizations are working to ensure queer communities feel safe and supported.
The Delaware Sexuality and Gender Collective, founded by Noah Duckett, is an organization based on community building, expanding resources for LGBTQ+ citizens and creating leadership. Numerous events are hosted with panelists who speak on topics including queer suffrage and the state of gender-affirming care in Delaware.
Duckett founded the organization alongside his mom and emphasized how its initiatives can help LGBTQ+ community members. The organization provides meal delivery services for those recovering from gender-affirming surgeries and assistance with the legal process of name changing.
“Immediately after the election we had a post-election processing for community members and leaders over Zoom,” Duckett said. “It felt productive to answer questions about the legal transition process. People from the ACLU talked about what legal rights look like and the change they anticipate.”
The organization provides events to come together as a community and have fun. Duckett emphasized the importance of light, community-building events to take away the heaviness people may feel.
According to Duckett, it’s important for allies and family members of queer youth to show their support during anxious and uncertain times.
“Allies and adults cannot be quiet,” Duckett said. “Anybody who is queer or trans will see when you are quiet and complicit. If we continue to allow things slip that we can stand up against, we are continuing to allow them to happen.”
Trump has previously threatened to withhold federal funds from states that do not uphold his executive orders. During a dinner with state governors, Trump called out the governor of Maine and claimed that he would not disperse any federal funds if they allowed transgender athletes in sports.
Although that does present a risk for state and local governments, the Delaware Sexuality and Gender Collective is funded through donations, and therefore unaffected by threats to remove federal funding.
“We are really fortunate in that we are not worried about having to stop the programming we are doing,” Duckett said. “As long as people continue participating in the work that we are doing, we are not going to let executive orders keep us down.”
Despite his local position, Cruce claimed that he would not back down if Delaware was threatened with funding cuts.
“What I would say to President Trump is bring it the f— on,” Cruce said. “We are ready for the fight. They want us to be scared to death, and we are stronger than that. Instead of spinning out of control, we could lock arms and say bring it the f— on.”
