8th place — 2025 grad student essay contest: M Lyman
FFRF awarded M $500.
By M Lyman
The future of democracy in the United States is currently under threat by the Trump Administration. Trump has created an oligarchy that is bringing the United States of America closer and closer to fascism. Christian nationalist policies are a huge factor in America’s fall toward fascism and the end of the separation between church and state. Merging of American and Christian identities is the ideology that makes up Christian nationalism. The separation between church and state has long been blurry — but it seems that Trump intends to erase the line altogether. After winning through a campaign rife with violent Christian nationalist imagery, now in office, Trump is bringing his vision to life.
Christian nationalists want the government to reflect and enforce traditional Christian values. In the first month of the Trump presidency, the words “transgender,” “gender identity” and “equity” were swiftly removed from official government sites. Research papers have been removed from publication and stripped of gender-related terms. The option of an “X” gender marker was removed from passport applications. Numerous bills have been introduced that intend to legalize discrimination on the basis of religious beliefs. The American Civil Liberties Union is currently tracking 456 anti-LGBTQ bills in statehouses across the United States.
The rights of LGBTQ folks are in peril. Only 10 years ago, after the Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court ruling, same-sex marriage was legalized in every state. At the time, I was only 18, and still deeply entrenched in the Christian cult I had been raised in. My family and community treated marriage equality as a loss. I remember my mother complaining that gay representation in television shows would normalize queer relationships and make “us” — the good Christian folks — complacent in our opposition.
In the home where I grew up, unbeknownst to me at the time, I was surrounded by a shroud of Christian nationalism. My now liberated and deconstructed self doesn’t remember a time before LGBTQ rights and marriage equality. I am queer, but I don’t have the experience of the grief and fear that comes with obvious governmental oppression because of my age and my background. I am afraid, however, that I might come to know that fear in my lifetime.
A 2023 study found that support for LGBTQ rights has declined slightly in recent years. This decline can be linked to Christian nationalism. Ultraconservative people are terrified that equality and LGBTQ rights threaten the moral foundations of the country. The news sources created for and viewed by ultraconservatives relentlessly spew anti-LGBTQ messages to feed on this terror. With the president now spouting Christian nationalist rhetoric, these fear-based anti-LGBTQ messages may start reaching a larger portion of the population.
The separation of church and state is essential to American democracy, and, as we have seen, Christian nationalism is anti-democratic. Discrimination and violence toward LGBTQ people happen as a result of Christian nationalist policies.
How do we stop this movement toward Christian nationalism? Unfortunately, there is no quick and simple solution. A good first step, though, is education. More American citizens need to know what Christian nationalism is and understand how it works. A greater understanding, too, of how democracy works and of the Constitution would benefit the American people. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says, in part, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The United States was founded on a principle of religious freedom, and the Constitution prohibits the establishment of an official religion. Christian nationalism is antithetical to the First Amendment.
LGBTQ rights are in danger. The future of democracy in the United States is uncertain as Christian nationalists are gaining control in high governmental offices. We can, though, have hope. The future is not yet determined. There are organizations like the ACLU fighting against discriminatory bills. Citizens of the United States can come together. We can organize, protest and strike. We can be heard. If we work together, we can save democracy and stop the descent into a Christian nationalist government.
M, 29, attends Michigan State University and is working toward a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree.
M writes, “I have a spouse, two young kids and I am queer and polyamorous. I have learned and grown so much as a person through my relationships with my partners. I am passionate about the rights of LGBTQ folks and other minority groups. Once I earn my MSW degree, as a mental health therapist I hope to support people deconstructing from fundamentalist religion, LGBTQ folks and polyamorous people.”
