The United States under Trump: “We are dealing with the beginnings of a dictatorship here.”
Freiburg, 20/10/2025
As an American studies scholar, Prof. Dr. Sieglinde Lemke analyses current cultural and political developments in the USA with a particular focus on queer studies. In this interview, she talks about Donald Trump’s policies against the LGBTQIA+ community and explains how these are linked to a growing authoritarian trend in the USA.
Ms Lemke, queer people in the USA feel increasingly threatened. Transgender people in particular are being targeted: Donald Trump Junior speaks of a “radical transgender movement” that is “the most violent movement in the world per capita.” Why have transgender people become such a target in the USA?
Many Trump voters are very conservative and religious. The fact that a group dares to change their bodies in accordance with their gender identity seems extremely radical or even perverted to them. In addition, anger against transgender people has been deliberately stirred up. This is vote-winning through polarising and misanthropic rhetoric. And it is a diversionary tactic from the real problems, such as economic polarisation and the rising cost of living due to inflation.
This year alone, nearly 1,000 anti-transgender bills have been introduced in the United States. Where does the political focus on this small group come from?
This is the first step in a larger development that still lies ahead. Transgender people are being made an example of before other groups are similarly defamed. In addition to the anti-transgender movement, there is also the anti-DEI movement: programmes for greater diversity, equal opportunities and inclusion are being discredited and no longer promoted. “Woke” has become the ultimate swear word. Another step is the devaluation of scientists, keyword climate change. The same mechanism always applies: us versus them, friend versus foe.
“Transgender people are being made an example of before other groups are similarly defamed. The same mechanism always applies: us versus them, friend versus foe.”
Prof. Dr. Sieglinde Lemke
Professor of North American Literature and Cultural Studies at the English Department, University of Freiburg
Aside from the devaluation and demonisation, what has actually changed for queer people since the start of Donald Trump’s second term in office?
There is a whole list: Trans-inclusive spaces have been banned in state institutions; for example, transgender women are no longer allowed to use women’s toilets there. In some states, books featuring queer characters are no longer allowed to be taught in schools. Transgender people are to be excluded from military service. Funding for gender reassignment treatments and LGBTIQIA+ hotlines is being cut. Transgender medicine is now only permitted in 18 states. Government agencies no longer call it gender reassignment, but rather mutilation.
To what extent do these changes represent a broader cultural and political development in the United States?
The word “trans” literally stands for transformation. Hatred of the transgender community is part of a general rejection of change. Sections of the population, especially Trump’s religiously oriented voters, still cling to a social order that dates back to the mid-20th century. They are fighting to turn back the clock.
So a large part of the population actually wants to go back to the 1950s?
Exactly. Over the past 25 years, the cultural and political elite has become more diverse. In 2014, African-American transgender woman Laverne Cox appeared on the cover of Time Magazine. This moment is referred to as the transgender tipping point: a social turning point at which transgender people experienced widespread visibility and social recognition for the first time. From then on, it was clear that queer people and people of colour were now also part of the elite and that they belonged to the cool crowd in the media, in the cityscape and in expensive restaurants. For many people, this went too far and they felt left behind. In sociology, this is referred to as status anxiety, i.e. the fear of losing status.
“The word trans literally stands for transformation. Hatred of the transgender community is part of a general rejection of change.”
Prof. Dr. Sieglinde Lemke
Professor of North American Literature and Cultural Studies at the English Department, University of Freiburg
So Donald Trump appeals to people who are afraid of no longer belonging to the “cool kids”?
Yes, threats to status are not only about economic factors, but also about cultural prestige. About the fear of losing social status.
You are a cultural scientist. To what extent does that influence your analysis of developments in the USA?
Cultural studies is interdisciplinary. That means I read political science, sociology and economics research as well as contemporary literature. I watch films and keep up to date with pop culture and digital culture. I also work in an intersectional way, which means I am aware that people can be affected by several types of discrimination at the same time. This is particularly relevant when dealing with the Trump phenomenon. I also incorporate theoretical perspectives into my analysis, such as gender theories.
It is also important to consider the historical context. In the mid-20th century, queerness was portrayed in the USA as a threat to morality and national security. As part of the government’s Lavender Scare campaign, homosexuals were denounced, dismissed en masse and in some cases arrested. What is happening now to transgender people is a continuation of this tradition.
Do you think that, similar to the Lavender Scare, dismissals and convictions for transgender individuals will soon follow?
The next step will be occupational bans, yes. It won’t be long before being a transgender person is enough to be classified as untrustworthy.
“We are dealing with the beginnings of a dictatorship. Dictators persecute their political opponents and seek out minorities to use as scapegoats.”
Prof. Dr. Sieglinde Lemke
Professor of North American Literature and Cultural Studies at the English Department, University of Freiburg
What makes you so sure of this assessment?
We are dealing with the beginnings of a dictatorship. Dictators persecute their political opponents and seek out minorities to use as scapegoats. This is a classic mechanism, and it involves not only discrimination, but sometimes also imprisonment or even internment in camps, as is already happening to thousands of migrants. Demonstrators and journalists who oppose the state’s opinion are rigorously removed. The extent and rigour of state power is frightening.
What are your expectations for the further development of democracy and minority rights under Trump?
I don’t have a good prognosis. What particularly worries me is the significant influence of the right-wing tech elite on US politics: Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, Curtis Yarvin. Anti-democratic convictions prevail throughout these circles. For example, they propagate ideas of private cities governed by corporations or so-called Freedom Cities. In these cities, the world can be reorganised according to the ideas of these rich, white men: patriarchal and authoritarian.
In your opinion, what would need to happen for polarisation in the US to decrease and for minorities to feel safer again?
Comprehensive re-education would be needed to democratise the population, similar to what happened in Germany after the Second World War. A number of economic changes would also be necessary. I believe that behind the polarisation and right-wing populism lies a partly justified anger against the establishment. President Trump has exploited this movement to reshape America according to his own ideas. This ultimately distracts from the economic divide between rich and poor and from political lobbying. Minorities and large sections of the American population will continue to live in precarious conditions for the time being. But in the long term, there will be change.
Do you see an opportunity for this?
I expect civil war-like conflicts in the next five years, probably limited to certain regions. The attack on the Capitol in 2021 may have been just a harbinger. Social injustices have often only been redressed after a war. Nevertheless, I can only urge people to remain confident. Without confidence, there will be no defence against fascist conditions.