If Trump wins the election, he could launch a ‘catastrophic’ rollback of LGBTQ+ rights

One morning in February, 16-year-old Levi Hormuth took off school, his parents called out of work, and the three began a five and a half hour drive.

The purpose of the 350-mile trip from their home in St Charles county, Missouri, to Chicago, Illinois, was a routine doctor's appointment.

Levi, a transgender boy, now 17 and in his final year of high school, had been a patient at the Washington University (WashU) Transgender Center since he was 13. The center, a short drive from home, had helped Levi in his transition, providing counseling and eventually hormone treatments at age 15. The testosterone had profoundly positive impacts, Levi and his parents said, helping him overcome significant mental distress stemming from his gender dysphoria.

But in June 2023, Missouri's Republican governor enacted a bill banning gender-affirming healthcare for youth under 18. The law had an exception for youth like Levi who were already accessing the care, but WashU, fearing legal liability, stopped prescribing medications to all trans youth.

The best alternative for Levi and his family was to cross state lines.

"The fact that I have to drive five hours both ways for treatment just shows our government in Missouri doesn't care about things that are actually important," Levi said one afternoon, sitting on his backyard deck with his parents in St Charles county, which is more conservative than neighboring St Louis county. "We have potholes galore that should be fixed, we have horrible crime rates. It's enraging that they're not focusing on what matters and listening to our voices."

The stakes of the presidential election are enormous for people like Levi and the broader LGBTQ+ community.