As Thailand celebrates the enactment of its long-awaited equal marriage law on Thursday, the United States appears to be regressing. On his first day in office, U.S. President Donald Trump signed several executive orders, including one that has caused concern within the LGBTQ+ community. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Trump signed an order stating that the United States will now officially recognize only two sexes, male and female, effectively dismissing trans and nonbinary identities and jeopardizing their legal rights. The order also removed protections for transgender individuals in federal prisons. The directive emphasized, “Each agency and all Federal employees shall enforce laws governing sex-based rights, protections, opportunities, and accommodations to protect men and women as biologically distinct sexes.”
The move quickly drew criticism from LGBTQ+ advocates and supporters. Ariana Grande, a pop icon who has also received significant attention for her role in Wicked (2024), was among the vocal critics. She shared a message on her Instagram Stories from the nonprofit organization Advocates for Trans Equality. The message read: “Today is a tough day for our community. The incoming administration campaigned on attacking trans people’s lives, healthcare, and dignity.” The statement also condemned the millions spent by the Trump campaign on anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ ads, warning that the new administration might continue to target the LGBTQ+ community. The message continued, “We’re bracing ourselves for what these extremists will try to do next. No matter what comes, we will protect each other. The incoming Trump administration, and the Project 2025 extremists who staff it, are reacting to decades of progress made by our LGBTQI+ community by trying to drag us backward. But we have fought even harder battles before—and won. We’ll do it again.”
Grande has been a long-time ally of the LGBTQ+ community, often using her platform to show support. In a 2018 “love letter to the LGBTQ+ community” published in Billboard, she expressed, “There is nothing more infectious than the joy and love that the LGBTQ community exudes. I grew up with a gay brother whose every move I would emulate. I idolized him. Everything Frankie did, I would do. I can’t remember a difference between Frankie before he came out and Frankie after he came out. He’s always just been Frankie. Sexuality and gender were never topics my family and I were afraid to discuss.”