“It felt very unsafe to stay in the United States.”
Jane was born and raised in California, where she worked in the tech sector for years. After she came out as trans, she faced a wave of threats and violence against her on the streets of her own city. Donald Trump’s demonizing rhetoric targeting trans people further inflamed the situation for her.
Now, in Trump’s second term, the spate of executive actions targeting trans people has made Jane’s life even more difficult. She’s a competitive athlete, and happy to have a conversation about fairness in women’s sports. But it’s clear that the administrations actions aren’t about fairness—they’re about scapegoating a group the president doesn’t like.
Today, Jane lives in a refugee camp in The Netherlands. She fled the United States seeking safety abroad because of persecution by her government and her fellow citizens, something she never imagined she would have to do. She says of her situation: “I am from America. I spent my entire career there. My family is from there. I don’t know that I can ever go back.”