By Răzvan Ion
My opinion? The real winners of the USA election: Europe’s populist right-wing wreckers. ‘Trump will be much more effective in accomplishing this agenda than he was during his first term’, says respected American political scientist Francis Fukuyama.
Donald Trump’s bottom. Photo by Reuters. Design by GAY45.
On U.S. election night, I found myself hosting a watch party in San Francisco and Vienna, via FaceTime, with a diverse group of friends—white, Black, Latino, gay, trans, and straight. Our last watch party in person was when Barack Obama won his first mandate. We gathered to witness what we hoped would be a victory for democracy and inclusivity. California voted for Kamala Harris, as expected, but the national results took a darker turn. On television, even the usually jovial Jimmy Kimmel held back tears, calling it ‘a terrible night.’ The collective shock and anxiety among LGBT+ communities in the U.S. and abroad was palpable.
The announcement of ‘Donald Trump is the president-elect’ blaring from every broadcaster felt like the drop of a guillotine— for everyone, but especially for women, LGBT+ people, and those from the Middle East. Kamala Harris delivered a gracious concession speech, in stark contrast to Donald Trump’s refusal to concede when he lost to Joe Biden, a loss that ultimately led to the Capitol assault.
Allow me a moment of anger: Americans have elected a man who praises Putin as a great leader, who advocates for removing Palestinians from Palestine, a misogynist, a homophobe, and an anti-trans activist. He’s a convicted criminal, the architect of a conspiracy to undermine fair elections, and the leader of the mob that incited the deadly Capitol assault. This is the man who has pledged to appoint Robert F. Kennedy as a health policy maker—a ma whon promised to ban vaccines—and who openly declared that he does not want to become a dictator, except ‘on day one’. Even if, despite all the campaign rambling, he somehow becomes the best president in history, the question remains: why would anyone vote for such a man?
The election of Donald Trump has sparked significant distress within the queer micro-society, not only in the United States but across Europe and globally. In the U.S., crisis hotlines serving LGBT+ youth and adults report a sharp increase in calls, with many expressing profound anxiety and fear about the future under a second Trump administration. Healthcare providers are also experiencing unprecedented demand for reproductive and gender-affirming medications, with one provider noting, ‘We’ve never seen this before.’ This surge highlights the deep apprehension within the community about potential policy changes. Under Trump’s renewed presidency, rights concerning abortion, LGBT+ protections, and immigration are perceived to be at risk—not just in the U.S. but in Europe as well.
Donald Trump is hateful, he’s a divisive figure, and his campaign made this abundantly clear. He even threatened his opponents with prison. At the top of his list are Palestinians, queer individuals, women, and transgender people. He assured Netanyahu of his ‘full support’ and a ‘free hand’ to act as he wishes. Trump’s agenda includes banning gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth, restricting protections in education and employment, and enforcing narrow definitions of gender that erase non-binary identities. There are concerns about potential blocks on gender-affirming medical care for transgender people enrolled in federal healthcare programs like Medicare.
Trump has promised to roll back federal policies that prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. This could affect housing, healthcare, education, employment, and federal government programs.
Then there’s Project 2025. While Trump has denied direct involvement, this initiative, associated with his former cabinet members, aims to significantly alter LGBT+ rights, potentially eliminating federal support for equality.
The Trump administration, under details outlined in Project 2025, would expel transgender servicemen and women as well as those living with HIV from serving in the armed forces in a brutal act of discrimination.
Project 2025 outlines the erasure of LGBT+ inclusive curriculums and policies. The manifesto claims that ‘critical race theory and gender ideology’ are ‘poisoning and indoctrinating children with leftist ideologies.’
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) will ‘aggressively lobby members of Congress who support the transgender community to use the appropriations process, in particular, to hinder Trump’s ability to mandate anti-trans discrimination and weaponise federal law against LGBT+ rights.’ Organisations like the ACLU warn that a second Trump administration might attempt to limit federal civil rights protections for LGBT+ individuals, particularly targeting transgender rights by enforcing religious exemptions.
As concerns grow over these policies, organisations are also strengthening their lobbying efforts in Congress to push back against anti-LGBT+ initiatives at the federal level.
Oh, but there’s news—more bad news. Trump and the Republicans have also secured control of Congress. And has the Supreme Court. It’s the ultimate triumph. The winners taking it all. And Trump has taken it entirely: popular vote, electoral vote and congress.
That’s the situation for the U.S., which is bracing itself for an exceptionally rough ride over the next four years.
Concerns are growing that Trump’s victory could shift American diplomacy towards endorsing anti-LGBT+ agendas internationally. Trump’s ideological allies in Europe—Viktor Orbán in Hungary, Giorgia Meloni in Italy, Robert Fico in Slovakia, Herbert Kickl in Austria, Marcel Dettling in Switzerland, Alice Weidel in Germany, Andrej Babiš in the Czech Republic, and Marine Le Pen in France—already hold main or secondary power positions and openly admire Trump’s approach. These leaders share his disdain for progressive policies, especially on issues like LGBT+ rights, immigration, and support for Ukraine. For years, this conservative populist bloc has insisted that their push toward ‘traditional Christian family values’ would ultimately place them on what they consider the right side of history. With Trump’s return, this coalition appears emboldened, promising a future that could further threaten the hard-won rights of LGBT, women and immigrants across Europe and beyond.
How did we get here? How did Europe and U.S. go far-right this super-election year?
Voting patterns in the U.S. reveal that 12% of self-identified LGBT+ voters supported Donald Trump—a trend that mirrors an alignment with far-right movements in Europe. Similar dynamics have emerged in countries like Italy, France, Austria, and Germany, where we’ve seen LGBT+ individuals drawn to populist, right-wing parties despite their generally radical conservative social stances. This phenomenon also appears in the autocratic regimes of Hungary and Slovakia, where support for populist leaders among certain LGBT+ voters defies expectations and complicates the narrative of progressive unity within queer communities. I addressed this issue in an op-ed ahead of Austria’s elections last month.
So, what’s left in the political landscape? Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a leading advocate for LGBT+ and women rights, is facing significant challenges. Today marked the first step toward snap elections. Similarly, Emanuel Macron, who has been a strong supporter of LGBT+ rights with an openly gay prime minister and foreign minister, is also in trouble.
The only hopes are in the UK. Keir Starmer’s tactic will be to avoid confected MAGA rows. The British prime minister is a moderate legal nerd who prizes deliberation and the rule of law. The right-wing Trump — with his shoot-from-the-hip approach, criminal convictions and attempts to subvert the 2020 election — could hardly be a more contrasting figure. Both France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Olaf Scholz are struggling, but Starmer has a sizable majority and time on his side.
‘Expect Europeans to flock to Mar-A-Lago in droves to demand preferential treatment over their neighbors,’ tweeted Gérard Araud, former French ambassador to the U.S.
You might believe there is almost no hope in this environment, where even organisations that are meant to protect you—such as LGBT+ human rights groups like GLAAD and others we will write soon about—have been proven corrupt, playing money power games.
We still have hope. Journalism is not dead. Journalists from around the world united and discussed future strategies of support last night. Journalism remains the only tool that, we hope, will not be silenced. Fico, citing Trump as his inspiration, stated that ‘sanctions may need to be introduced for not properly correcting false information’ in the media. Which refers to him or his allies.
President-elect Donald Trump—what a strange phrase to utter—asserted on election day that he wouldn’t mind if bullets were to fly through the press corps in front of him.
It is a scary world today. But, even though Trump, Fico, and Orbán have proposed ‘regulating’ the media and ‘establishing a media authority’ to control the press, we remain determined to uphold our independence and maintain quality journalism. We can only hope that we won’t end up writing from a hideout. Personally, I’ve done it once, and I would do it again.
I could not help quoting the words of Tourmaline, a well-known contemporary artist, filmmaker, and author of Marsha — the biography of the revolutionary trans historic figure Marsha P. Johnson — who tweeted yesterday: ‘Over and over again we have seen that biggest dreams of freedom are launched in the midst of a mess of a thing.’
GAY45 has an unyielding belief in the power of progress, even in times of regression, when we will see the bottom. Donald’s bottom.
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