Editor's note: This story is part of Southwest Michigan Second Wave's On the Ground Battle Creek series.
 
BATTLE CREEK, MI — Preparing for the best and worst-case scenarios under the incoming Trump administration is keeping many in Battle Creek’s LGBTQIA+ community busy.
 
They are seeking out attorneys who will assist them with ensuring that their wishes and directives are detailed and ironclad. At the same time, they’re working with financial planners to ensure that they will have the necessary funds to move to more tolerant states or countries should they face increased hostility in the communities they currently live in.
 
“The MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement at large has created a permission structure where its followers feel emboldened to intimidate and further marginalize LGBTIA individuals, women, and minorities,” says a local Queer Activist who has requested anonymity as part of the plans they’re making to keep a low profile. “We’re planning for everything and we’ve been planning, especially after going through the first Trump presidency and the Pandemic. At the same time, we’re hoping for the best.”
 
None of this is extreme, but it is necessary, they say, given the language in Project 2025 that includes steps that will be taken to undo the protections currently in place to safeguard the lives and livelihoods of those who identify as LGBTQIA.
 
“We’re canceling the vast majority of our TV subscriptions so we can put that money toward helping people who are going to need that help,” says the Queer Activist of they and their wife. “I’m growing my hair out so I can blend in a little bit better also so that I’m not spending that money every six weeks on haircuts. This money could buy groceries for my family. These are the calculations we’re going through.”
 
Every queer person, they say, should be putting an emergency plan in place in case there’s violence on the statewide level or from their neighbors who live nearby.
 
An article in “The Advocate” offers a series of steps that every LGBTQIA person in the United States should consider taking, including maintaining a supply of medication, updating passports, and relying on local allies.
 
“They need to have safety plans in place to protect themselves. 95 percent of safety is planning,” says the Queer Activist. “Those of us who have access have been putting plans in place because we have knowledge and access. It’s not just about how my family is going to make it but how our community is going to make it. We learned during the pandemic how we really do need each other. We need to plan for what we can safely to protect everybody involved.”
 
Intentionally marginalizing publicly to stay safe
 
Asking that their identity not be publicly disclosed in this story is not an easy or familiar place for them to be in, but the stakes are too high now to do anything less, the Queer Activist acknowledges.
 
“We are planning to live quietly. That means that I’m not going to be doing any public facing anything and we are also making plans because we anticipate that school systems are literally going to fall apart or no longer be safe for our son to attend,” They say. “I’m having conversations with my son on the way to school about how to handle violence. He’s a middle schooler and my wife and I are providing him with ethical boundaries.”
 
Their lives, out of necessity, are about to become smaller and quieter.
 
This discreteness will extend to family gatherings, not because they don’t want to be there, but because they think it will become unsafe. They say they don’t know if they can do family Christmas gatherings going forward because maintaining their safety and the lives they’ve created are too important to lose.
 
“My father can’t know anything about my life from this moment on because he’s a Trump supporter. He’ll be the first one to rat me out. A lot of people are going to be in the same boat. What Project 2025 is mandating will disrupt family and everyday life. There’s going to be a lot of heartache.”
 
To further avoid potential threats to their safety, they will assume a passive position in their interactions with neighbors, including those who allow their dogs to run wild, creating concerns for the safety of children playing nearby.
 
“If that happened today, I wouldn’t say anything. I don’t want to give them reasons to retaliate should CPS (Child Protective Services) come to my door,” they say. This is counter to what has happened in the past when they’ve attempted to have civil discussions with the dogs' owners.
 
Perhaps one of the most emotionally painful marginalization points will be those involving allies of the LGBTQIA community.
 
“We’re about to find out who our allies are. Will those people who come to our Pride Festival and hug us open their homes to trans people who need a safe place to stay while planning a move elsewhere? If we need $500 to get an immigrant family across the border to Canada, will they do that? Allies should not assume that we’re going to answer questions about our transgender identity or other areas of our lives because we’ve got other priorities now. Our circles are going to get smaller.”
 
Reconciling, not resignation
 
As members of the LGBTQIA community create a beloved community without reliance on society at large, they’ll rely on the tools those who came before them have used.
 
“The reality is that LGBTQ people have been living quietly forever because we haven’t been recognized. It’s impacted various generations differently. There are people who have had lifelong roommates. We all know they’re a gay couple, but they can’t risk being honest because of the fear they have,” They say. “There are young queer people for whom marriage is between any consenting adults. They don’t know what it’s like to live in a world without that.”
 
The challenge going forward is to maintain a surface level of tolerance for those who gave their tacit approval by voting in a new reality that will push an anti-gay agenda. Healthcare, the legality of gay marriages, and the adoption of children in those marriages are among the areas that will likely be impacted under Project 2025.
 
They say that people who voted for incoming President Donald Trump have essentially cosigned onto the violence that could potentially be unleashed on marginalized communities. There’s plenty of irony, they say, that people on TikTok are beginning to lament about family members who are no longer speaking to them.
 
“If there are relationships you need to shed because that person doesn’t believe you deserve dignity, that’s what you need to do,” they say.
 
At the same time, they recognize the reality of having to interact publicly with those who don’t support the Gay community.
 
“How am I supposed to live with them,” they ask. “I don’t think Trump supporters have really counted the cost. They will bear witness to immense suffering, violence, and pain.”