GEOFF BENNETT: Since President Trump reentered# the White House, his administration has moved## to restrict rights for transgender people,# from transition-related medical care for## youth to sports participation to# identity markers on passports.

William Brangham has an update on these actions,## the legal challenges to# them, and what may come next.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: LGBTQ+ advocates say# that many of President Trump's policies## present a critical threat to the roughly# 1 percent of Americans, that is some 2.8## million people, who identify as transgender.

So for a closer look at some of these moves,# we are joined by Alejandra Caraballo.

She's a## transgender activist and civil rights attorney who# teaches at Harvard Law School's Cyberlaw Clinic.

Welcome to the "News Hour."

ALEJANDRA CARABALLO, Harvard Law# School: Thank you for having me.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: After Trump won the election,# you told The Harvard Crimson that these n.. four years would be really just a matter of# survival.

How has that survival been going?

ALEJANDRA CARABALLO: It's# been incredibly difficult.

The Trump administration has taken a# whole-of-government approach to target## the trans community, in everything from how we're# able to identify ourselves on identity documents,## to how we obtain our health care,# to even where we go to the bathroom,## and even the ability to serve in the military.

And so for the entirety of the trans community,## it really has become a matter of survival, and# that survival has been incredibly difficult.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: When you're talking to# people in the community and people who are## supporters and allies, do they share that# same sense of dread as to what's going on?

ALEJANDRA CARABALLO: Absolutely.

I think a lot of allie.. at the same time, it's difficult because there# is so much happening.

We're kind of only one## small part of everything that is happening,# between the assaults on our institutions,## the attacks on immigrants, the# open corruption in the government.

It makes it really hard to be able to focus# what is happening to the trans community,## when so much is happening all at the same time.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Back during the# election, political analysts point## to that notorious set of ads that the# president ran against Kamala Harris,## she's for they/them, he's for you, as both# being divisive and effective as an ad campaign.

And, as you know, there are polls that show that# somewhere around half of Americans approve of what## the president is doing vis-a-vis trans people.

How# do you explain that?

How does that sit with you?

ALEJANDRA CARABALLO: I think# it's incredibly troubling,## especially with the kinds of moves that has made# for the trans community to even live our lives,## to even access health care, to even access# housing, or to even work without discrimination.

But I think the Trump administration,# really, I think they're overplaying their## hand and I think a lot of the Republican# Party overlearned the lesson from 2024,## where their economic populism was able to# win over swing voters and they attributed it## to anti-trans politics, because it failed# in Virginia and it failed in New Jersey.

Winsome Earle-Sears spent over# 50 percent of her ads been,## according to NOTUS, on anti-trans ads,# and she lost by, I think almost... WILLIAM BRANGHAM: This was in the governor's race.

ALEJANDRA CARABALLO: Yes, by over 15# perc.. extremely heinous anti-trans ads.

And it# just failed to materialize as any sort## of impact on electoral politics,# because, at the end of the day,## people want to hear about things that# actually affect their day-to-day lives,## and trans people, it just doesn't register# for them, for better or for worse.

When it comes to our issues in terms of like our# access to health care and all those other things,## it makes it very hard for us to get# those policies.

But at the same time,## on the negative side, it doesn't have# much saliency with the electorate.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The Supreme Court,# as you know, is about to take up a## case next year about the participation# of transgender athletes in sports.

Again,## over half of Americans believe that transgender# athletes should not be playing in sports.

What do you think is at stake# in that particular case?

ALEJANDRA CARABALLO: Yes, I# mean, there's, on its face,## what's at stake in the case, which is a# middle school girl just wanting to play## sports with her friends.

And# let's not lose sight of that.

And there had always been these commonsense# compromises, that you had to be on hormones## for your two years.

You can't just show up# and just say, I'm a girl and play on the## sports teams.

That's not how it worked.

There had# been these compromises within the sports teams,## within local school districts to# figure out how to make this work.

And this instead is saying that the# government's coming in and dictating## who can and can't play sports.

But it goes beyond# that, because Title IX, which is at stake here,## and as well as the Equal Protection Clause,# really defines what counts as discrimination## writ large in all the institutions of learning# from local kindergartens to universities.

And so that could determine potentially# how discrimination on the basis of sex## impacts trans people across the country.

We# could see, depending on how this decision## comes down and how it comes out at# oral argument and how it's written,## basically an endorsement of bathroom bans by the# Supreme Court, facilities bans, a lack of any## sort of protections within discrimination law# for trans people in the context of education.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I want to ask you one# thing.

You have faced your own share of## criticism for some of the things# you have written on social media.

Where do you see the boundaries in# terms of how to have this debate,## especially as it pertains to people# who are near and dear to you?

ALEJANDRA CARABALLO: I think about this a lot in# terms of the incentives of social media and how## it can incentivize a certain style of engagement.

But I think, in general, one of the things# I have always tried to say and repeat,## the quote is, be brutal to systems,## kind to people.

And I think that's one# of the things that tries to guide me is,## we need to hold people to account and hold systems# to account, but try to be kinder to people.

And I certainly have tried to grow myself in# this respect, and I know I have not always## been perfect, but I think that's just an# unfortunate side effect of social media.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, that is# Alejandra Caraballo from Harvard Law School.

Thank you so much for being here.

ALEJANDRA CARABALLO: Thanks for having me.