Transitioning during high school was difficult enough. Familial backlash with my mother’s venomous words trying to wither the self-confidence I began to grow. Home was never a home. School was a safe haven where I could be my authentic self without facing intolerance. Now that opportunity is at risk for trans* students nationwide. We yearn to become educated yet conservatives wish us ill, and the bathroom protection repeal is the first line of attack. We all must protect trans* youth and fight for the right to use the bathroom and to simply exist; the people united will never be defeated. — Jesse (pronouns: they/them), 18, University of California, Los Angeles

What I'm still trying to understand is: cis people are afraid to use the bathroom with trans people? I'm afraid to use the bathroom with cis people, and I'm pretty binary-presenting. Like Laverne Cox said, these bills are not about bathrooms, but about policing and criminalizing transgender bodies — particularly Black and Brown trans people, and those who do not appear to fit in the gender binary. Removing protections is basically the government giving consent to harassment and violence against transgender people. — Leo (pronouns: he/him/his), 20, University of Michigan

The news of Trump removing protections for transgender students terrifies me. My partner and I are both affected by this directly and indirectly. This retraction of protections forces transgender students into dysphoric spaces and emotions. As well as emboldens other students that are against transgender people to speak up with hate and take worse actions. Trump's win has already emboldened hate crimes to an extreme level and the increase of Trump's actions against LGBTQIA+ is only making it worse. — Kat (pronouns: they/them/theirs), 19, Appalachian State University

It's really quite terrifying. Our last president worked so hard to ensure the safety of transgender and gender nonconforming individuals and now Trump is tearing it all down in one fell swoop. I know many people who have experienced transphobia — myself included. Knowing that our president doesn't regard us as worthy of his respect makes it all the more difficult. — *Sean, (pronouns: they/them), 18, Temple University *

My initial reaction to the Trump administration withdrawing federal protection guidelines for transgender students like myself to use the bathroom that corresponds with my identity actually didn't surprise me at all. I honestly already felt like it was going to come down to this. The first thing that I thought of when I heard about it was, what about my trans* and gender non conforming brothers and sisters still in (grades) K-12? But my message to all of my trans and gender nonconforming family out there is to keep your head up, we will not stop fighting. — Trey (pronouns: he/him), 18, Connecticut College

Regarding rights for trans people, I thought society was finally moving forward. Of course this new ‘policy’ makes me angry, but I’m mostly disappointed in my country. Being transgender is tough; hormones and surgeries are difficult to access, poor self-esteem resulting from dysphoria or bullying leads to serious mental health issues like depression, tons of trans kids are kicked out because their parents don’t accept them, yet people are STILL arguing about the bathrooms we use? We encounter so many obstacles inherent to being transgender, and it feels like our government is doing nothing to help us overcome them. — Aleks (pronouns: he/him), 19, University of Pittsburgh

I don’t even know where to start because I’m feeling so many things at once. I can say that of all the things I’m feeling, surprise is not one of them; as a queer, trans person of color, nothing really surprises me anymore. I am frustrated, though, because there is a constant erasure of non-binary people. The defense is always, “transmen use the men’s restroom, and transwomen use the women’s restroom,” but I am neither of those, so my options for comfort are limited. Another thing is that people seem to not realize that this goes outside of bathrooms; the bathrooms are basically a metaphor for the rest of the world. Just as Laverne Cox was saying, it’s about our right to exist in public spaces. Okay, so we can feel comfortable in the restroom, but when we leave that one space, then what happens? — Samantha (pronouns: she/her/hers), 19, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill