‘All of my friends that are trans or queer identifying have been under attack.’

Ryan Sugden is an administrative assistant for the Journalism, Advertising, and Media Studies Program at UWM. He received a bachelor’s degree in the JAMS program and a master’s degree in Media Studies at UWM. Sugden believes that this new administration will affect him in the coming months and is worried for people he knows in the queer community.

Luke Urback: How do you think the Donald Trump administration has affected you in your everyday life?

Ryan Sugden: I don’t think it has affected me yet, but I know it’s coming. I am anticipating my right to marriage being taken away, budget cuts, and I’m afraid I might lose my job in the next couple of months. All of my friends that are trans or queer identifying have been under attack. It’s hard for me to say that I am doing ok because all the people around me are recognizing that the world is burning around us.

Urback: What new policy introduced by the Trump administration do you dislike the most?

Sugden: I really dislike that trans women can’t compete in sports. I find it to be incredibly transphobic. The research will show that there is very little difference between cisgender female athletes and transgender female athletes. There is very little difference in their athletic capability, especially after being on two years of hormone replacement therapy. If we are so concerned with trans athletes then name five. 

Urback: How concerned are you that people who are wealthy and do not have the correct qualifications, get put into positions of power?

Sugden: With Elon Musk specifically it’s really concerning because he wasn’t elected to do anything and his only motivator is to make money while already being the richest man in the world. His only motivator is staying rich, so he’s put into this position of power and he is abusing it to make himself more rich. People who are in political power and are wealthy are really problematic because people like Nancy Pelosi make 175,000 dollars a year, but are somehow worth millions of dollars. The NRA giving money to Republican candidates is a huge issue because these legislators are fighting for gun rights when guns are the leading cause of death for children.

Urback: Do you think there is anything positive happening with this new regime?

Sugden: One reason people voted for Trump was because of his no tips on taxes policy. I work another job where I work for gratuity and thought that policy might be nice. However, Trump introduced his tax plan for 2025 and he did not include that policy. He lied to the American people which were all so shocked that he lied. The world is burning and I’m going to lose all my rights, but at least I get to keep my gratuity.

Urback: Is there anything we can do to change how politicians make promises and go back on them when they get into office? How?

Sugden: No because we’re not really a democracy. You can just lie and say whatever you want and then get elected and change your policy. I could run as a republican and make up a bunch of policies and then get in office and be a raging socialist. There needs to be laws that if you make promises you have to follow through with them or at least put the effort in. If you don’t there needs to be some sort of punishment. Something needs to happen to hold politicians accountable for their actions.