GLR July-August 2025

and colonization—in an Executive Order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” In that order, Trump claims the Smithsonian offers revisionist history that depicts America as “inherently racist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed.” The order also says that “the forthcoming Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum plans on celebrating the exploits of male athletes [i.e., trans women] participating in women’s sports” and, in essence, attempts to remove transgen der accomplishments from history. Trump’s goal, as outlined in the executive order, is to eliminate exhibits that contradict his white, heteronormative image of American history, thus depriv ing visitors of the opportunity to learn from the past, including its dark side, marked by racism and homophobia. Other federally funded institutions have been affected by cuts to DEI and by Trump’s executive orders. The National Park Service has removed references to transgender people from its public materials. Updates to the Stonewall National Monu ment’s website—a site commemorating the 1969 uprising

against a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a historic gay bar— eliminated mentions of transgender activists such as Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. On the website, the abbreviation it self was altered to have the “T” and “Q” in “ LGBTQ +” removed, narrowing it down to “LGB” heritage. These changes align with broader federal initiatives, such as an Executive Order called “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” This order mandated a restrictive binary definition of sex and sys tematically erased gender-diverse identities from official recog nition. Advocacy groups have criticized these revisions, arguing that they represent a deliberate distortion of historical memory intended to reduce queer achievements. Efforts of resistance, while still limited, are expanding as more people (such as readers of this article) become aware of what is taking place. These efforts show a growing realization that the removal of inclusive literature is both a First Amend ment issue and a human rights issue.

precursor at the same location since 1948. My partner and I decided to stay for the drag show that night, a Broad way-themed performance hosted by Evita Kedavra, a transplant from Lebanon fierce enough to give any good New York City queen a run for her money. Upon finding out I was American as she worked the crowd be tween lip syncs, she immediately asked if I voted for Trump, to which I re coiled. After some friendly banter she confessed in front of the crowd: “You Americans deserve it though; you have bases all over the world.” The implica tion was that this country’s imperialist past is finally catching up to us. Again and again I was told on my travels that fellow Americans were wel come as tourists. Even if they avoided poli tics, the people I spoke with were eager to practice English with a native speaker. Un like the more reserved Swedes I encoun tered, the Danes I spoke with readily shared their views on Americans and their politics. As my partner later pointed out, there was an insinuation in many of these conversa tions that only liberals would receive such a warm welcome. In both countries, people couldn’t understand how Trump was re elected and were dismayed that there was widespread support for his views. One widely held view was summarized by a bar patron when he asked us: “Are you the good Americans or the bad Americans?” Polar ization has truly gone global—or at least the world’s awareness of the state of American politics has done so. Adam M. McMahon, an assistant professor of political science at Rider University in Lawrenceville, NJ, teaches courses on Ameri can politics, including LGBTQ + issues.

throughout her life she has had to con tend with comments about her race. She explained that Sweden is “a very open country by law, but not as a peo ple.” All three were Moderate Party voters. (This is a center-right party that has been in a governing coalition with Sweden Democrats, Christian Democrats, and the Liberal People’s Party after elections in September 2022.) Regarding Trump, Taya said: “I hate him personally. Because of his controversial thoughts and actions. The wall to Mexico I think was pretty unnecessary and discriminating and fi nancially stupid.” Even if they didn’t understand why Americans re-elected Trump, they assured me Americans were still welcome in Sweden, where they make a distinction between the people and their political leaders. The next day, I met a friend for coffee in Gamla Stan, the old city center. Jeremiah Lee, a 41-year-old software developer, emi grated with his husband for work from the Bay Area eight years ago and both recently became Swedish citizens. I asked him how LGBT people were treated here versus back in the U.S. “People in Sverige [the native name for Sweden] don’t treat my marriage as anything special. They are delightfully indifferent. To me, this is what marriage equality should feel like.” While he feels safer here than he ever did back in San Francisco, he also pointed out that the expe rience was likely different for others. “The problems arise when a queer person is an immigrant or a Muslim. Sverige is a gener ally tolerant society, but not a multicultural society.” As we departed, my friends told me I broke the one rule for survival in Stockholm: don’t talk to strangers, espe cially about politics.

T HE TRAIN RIDE from Sweden to Denmark was long but pleasant. While Copenhagen felt just as safe as Stockholm, the vibe was more bustling and cosmopolitan. Bicycles were everywhere, the people appeared more diverse, and the gay population was larger, as demonstrated by the concentration of several gay bars in the city center. We visited one such establishment that Tuesday. At Masken, a few regulars gath ered around the bar, ribbing each other ex pectantly as they took turns drawing numbers; the loser paid for the next round of shots. Upon learning we were from New York, the oldest gentleman at the bar asked. “Why would you come to Copenhagen?” This quickly segued into a series of ques tions before I could answer: Why would Americans vote for Trump? Why is he try ing to take Greenland? Michael, a retired po lice officer, observed: “We pay a hell of a lot of money to them,” referring to Greenland. Across the street was Centre Stage CPH, a newer establishment that opened the pre vious summer after Cozy Bar closed, its gay

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