‘We're still here. We're still going to enjoy our game': What it's like being a trans sports fan in Trump's second term

CNN

2 days ago

The first six months of Donald Trump's second term as president of the United States have been defined by sweeping executive orders and the introduction of legislation that takes aim at some of America's most marginalized communities.
In particular, transgender people living in the US have been a target of the Trump administration's ire. Several actions have been taken to prevent trans people from participating in public life, from banning transgender Americans from serving in the military to an executive order that bans transgender women from competing in women's sports.
Trans athletes, especially, have been in the crosshairs of the Trump administration over the last few months. There have been threats to California's federal funding over the participation of a trans high school junior in state track and field championships and in March, the White House cut off $175 million in federal funds for the University of Pennsylvania related to the trans athlete issue.
As the US gears up to be one of three countries hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup next June – the first on American soil since 1994 – the spotlight is turning towards its sporting scene.
And as the attention of the world's sports media shifts to the US, a number of athletes and soccer fans, including many trans people themselves, are raising the alarm over the attacks on trans rights.
Some want to use the upcoming World Cup – the largest international soccer tournament there is and arguably the most popular global event, sporting or otherwise – to show the world that the trans community in the US takes care of one another, refusing to disappear even as the Trump administration attempts to make life difficult for them. Many just want trans people to have the right to play and enjoy sports as freely as anyone else.
Liam Taylor is a season ticket holder of MLS franchise the Colorado Rapids, an overseas fan of English club Tottenham Hotspur, and a former high school powerlifting champion. He is also a trans man who was immensely looking forward to a World Cup in his home nation – but not anymore.
'My wife and I are so into the World Cup, we usually keep a track of every game in the competition. We were so excited for it to be here, where we live. But honestly, now, it doesn't feel safe to travel to certain parts of the US, so we won't be spending our money on that anymore,' Taylor told CNN Sports.
Taylor says he largely feels safe as a trans man living in the Centennial State with a supportive community around him, but he used to live in Dallas, Texas – a decidedly Republican state.
'Some of my friends in Dallas are bracing for a more hostile environment towards LGBTQ+ people. And not just in Texas but across the South, really,' Taylor said.
One of the reasons Taylor left the Lone Star State is that it was starting to become more and more difficult for him to access the hormones he needed. He is no stranger to experiencing discrimination towards the trans community but sports and, in particular, soccer have often been his solace. He's happy that his beloved Colorado Rapids still hosted its designated Pride night, despite the ongoing exclusion towards transpeople in sports that the Trump administration is fostering, but he told CNN Sports that he is struggling to put an optimistic spin on the current political climate.
'It's scary to think that a percentage of your neighbors really hate you. I try not to be a pessimist, but it's difficult not to get down about it all right now,' he said. 'There's a huge hypocrisy amongst conservatives and the Trump administration, who say we should 'Keep politics out of sport' – but they're doing something political by pushing (queer and trans) people out of sport!'
Referring to Trump's executive order to ban trans women from sports, Taylor made the point that the practice is not only harmful to trans athletes but to cisgender ones, too.
'The Trump administration says that they're doing this, banning trans players, to 'protect women and girls,' but who are we protecting when the privacy of athletes is being violated because of enforced (sex) checks?' said Taylor. 'How exactly authorities in schools, colleges and sporting institutions are going to 'check' someone is or isn't trans is incredibly unclear and could potentially be very invasive.'
Taylor is deeply concerned that the Trump administration's anti-trans policies are going to encourage hostility towards trans people at sporting events and other public gatherings. He reflected on the transphobia that he himself experienced, particularly while he was transitioning, and told CNN Sports that he fears an uptick in the same kind of behavior in the new America being shaped by Trump.
'In 2016, back in Texas, I was followed into bathrooms, some guys tried to fight me at a truck stop, and it wasn't safe to be there anymore,' Taylor said. 'I'm seeing that kind of thing happen now, to other trans folks, more and more. I'm trying now to do what I can with my passing privilege – going to protests on behalf of people that want to go but don't feel safe to do so, donating specifically to LGBTQ+ charities.'
Despite the fears around the discrimination against trans athletes and sports fans right now, Taylor does find comfort in the community he's found in soccer and in the Colorado Rapids fanbase.
'We won't be skipping any home games this season. Our friends are there, and we'll be there, all of us, to support each other while all this is going down under Trump,' he said.
Almost 1,000 miles away in Los Angeles, Taylor Gray has also found a family in the soccer club LAFC and, in particular, its LGBTQ+ supporters' group – LAFC Pride Republic.
'Joining LAFC Pride Republic felt like coming home,' Gray, who is a trans man, told CNN Sports. Until he joined the supporters' group, Gray said he had never met another trans person. LAFC Pride Republic has become so important to Gray's life that he even proposed to his husband on the pitch at LAFC's BMO Stadium. As the Trump administration moves to roll back trans inclusion in sports, Gray has found that the feeling amongst his friends at Pride Republic is one of resilience.
'Every time I go to a game at the moment, people are constantly discussing how we can be louder, how to be more visible, how to show that we aren't going anywhere regardless of what this government is trying to do,' he said. 'We want to inspire other soccer teams and supporters' groups who don't know what to do right now. We want to show that it's important to say we're still here, we're still going to enjoy our game and we're still going to be visibly trans.'
Amid a changing political landscape, LAFC and the American soccer community have been preparing for increased international attention as the FIFA Club World Cup continues across the US in advance of next year's World Cup. LAFC competed in the tournament group stage and Gray hopes that soccer fans traveling to the States will see that there are people who don't support the policies of the Trump administration and, instead, will fervently defend the rights of marginalized communities.
'For every jerk you might meet in the US, there are 10 people here that will love you regardless of your gender identity or sexuality,' Gray said. 'We can't let the good work that people are doing to provide support to their communities fall to the side. It's so important to uplift the folks that are looking out for those that are being excluded right now.'
As many institutions, companies and corporations across the US rescind their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies in the wake of the Trump administration's push to end these initiatives, Gray is proud that LAFC and Pride Republic are standing firm in their values.
'Despite everything else around us, Pride Republic is not changing what its goals are – which is to make sure that soccer is a sport that welcomes everyone. Inclusivity is an incredibly important word for Pride Republic and that isn't going away.'
Soccer, and particularly men's soccer, does not always feel like a welcoming space for LGBTQ+ people. In France's top division, Ligue 1, two high profile players were recently given bans for concealing the anti-homophobia badge on their club's shirts. Homophobic chanting continues to be an issue across European soccer. The beautiful game has all too often been marred by unsavory incidents of bigotry.
But what Gray has found at LAFC Pride Republic and what Taylor has found amongst his friends in the Colorado Rapids' fanbase stand in opposition to what has been seen before in soccer and in the Trump administration's rhetoric. In the communities that the two have discovered, soccer is for everyone and anyone is welcome to share in the joy and the anguish of the game. Both men say they have found a home in the stands of their respective clubs.
As the Trump administration shows no signs of slowing down its attempts to exclude trans people from competing in sports, communities across the United States are fighting back to show that they won't be silenced or made to feel invisible – and they aren't planning to give up.