Trans Parents and Their Kids Fear for Their Families Under the Trump Administration
“What came through clearly in this study is how much transgender parents love their children and how hard they work to protect and nurture their families,” one researcher said.
A recent study out of UCLA’s Williams Institute examines the concerns of transgender parents under the second Trump administration.
The research was pulled from 108 trans and nonbinary parents in 2025.
About four in 10 trans parents say they are concerned that someone from a daycare, their neighborhood, or health care provider will report them to child protective services over their gender identity. Only half of the respondents said they were somewhat or very accepted by other parents, according to the report.
“When I first moved here people weren’t necessarily accepting, but they kept their opinions to themselves. Now people are openly hostile and will harass queer members of the town,” one respondent told researchers.
The survey found that 52% of trans parents with minor children said the current anti-LGBTQ+ climate has caused a barrier for them to think about future parenting.
About a third of respondents said they are now planning to have fewer children due to the Trump administration. More than half (55%) said that the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 has made them uncertain about future parenting due to the resulting uncertainty over reproductive and legal rights.
Researchers also found that many respondents cited non-LGBTQ-specific concerns as barriers to future parenting. Those concerns included the economy (51%), school shootings (40%), climate change (30%), and white supremacy or racism (28%).
“As a nonbinary and Black parent in U.S. … I can say the rise in anti-trans and anti-Black sentiment, along with legal rollbacks, has made me more cautious about expanding my family,” one person said.
Fifty-nine percent of parents said they were worried about the legal validity of their parental rights — citing President Donald Trump’s views on trans issues and the lack of federal protections for queer parents.
Some trans parents (31%) are even concerned that family members may report them to child welfare authorities, according to the report.
The Williams Institute found that children of trans parents have also been affected by today’s political climate. For trans parents with children old enough to be aware of current events, respondents say their kids have grown more worried under Trump’s second term. Over half said their children are now concerned their families will face harassment, be separated, or have to move to somewhere safer.
“Being a transgender parent means not only raising children but also navigating one’s identity within the community, securing recognition of one’s parenting status, and feeling safe as a family,” said Abbie E. Goldberg, affiliated scholar at the Williams Institute and professor of psychology at Clark University, who was the lead author of the report. “All of this is happening amid an increasingly hostile sociopolitical climate.”
Many trans parents are choosing to discuss their identities with their children, even if they are concerned about anti-trans sentiment. More than 80% said they were willing to share their own transgender identity with their older children, and 95% said they discussed trans rights in the United States with them. Younger children were included in those conversations, too, according to the report, with 64% of parents saying they talked openly about being transgender with children 12 and under.
However, about a quarter of parents said they were going to limit their children from talking about their trans identity in case their child outed them in a transphobic environment.
The study also found that the friends and family of trans parents have voiced concerns about their safety.
Respondents said they planned to limit travel to certain locations under the Trump administration and even avoid settings like public restrooms, social service agencies, and even gender-affirming care providers and OB/GYNs.
“What came through clearly in this study is how much transgender parents love their children and how hard they work to protect and nurture their families,” Brad Sears, distinguished senior scholar of law and policy at the Williams Institute and an author of the report, said. “As LGBTQ policies become more restrictive at the federal level, it is essential that social service organizations, government agencies, and policymakers at the state and local levels support transgender parents by ensuring access to inclusive family planning services and stronger parenting protections.”
