In more recent years, historical study of the Holocaust has expanded to include a focus on the non-Jewish victims of the genocide. Along with the Roma, disabled, political opponents and many others the targeting of openly queer people (usually men and people who would now might be classified as trans women) has entered the discussion.
The majority of these groups were used as acceptable scapegoats. These groups were already heavily disliked by a large portion of Germany society, making their oppression popular and acceptable. This is what happens in many, many discriminatory governments, fascist or not: they scapegoat already-unpopular groups in order to increase support for whatever else they want to do.
President Trump, beginning from his election campaign, positioned himself as a “social liberal seeking to move the Republican Party left on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights”. The article quoted argues that this was never a truly heart-felt position. I would agree. In a way, the rhetoric surrounding a specific type of gay people has progressed to the point where it becomes less and less popular to be against gay people. This shift, however, has only gone so far. Trans people are still not able to be viewed as ‘respectable’ unless they fulfill a very specific list of behaviours that includes never complaining about any sort of transphobia faced in their life. Queer people of all stripes still struggle with this, but trans people are still viewed as acceptable targets by specific politicians.
Trump’s calculation was that if he targeted trans people (through the military ban to start) that this would be acceptable targeting because trans people are still viewed negatively by a large part of American society. Time will tell if this will continue to be true.
Samuels, Robert and Jenna Johnson. (2017, July 26). “‘It’s Not My Thing’: A History of Trump’s Shifting Relationship with the LGBT Community”. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/its-not-my-thing-a-history-of-trumps-shifting-relationship-with-the-lgbt-community/2017/07/26/92920302-7220-11e7-8f39-eeb7d3a2d304_story.html?utm_term=.ae8b187e8f13.
Bet You Couldn't See This Coming 
Do you see these attitudes affecting how outside nations view the US? Do you think that this would affect people’s decision to visit, move, or go to school there? In my experience I see this as being a factor. I just wonder if this highlights a more progressive shift in the thinking of other countries, or whether it is merely regressive in the US, or maybe a mixture of both.
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Attacks on the trans communities stem from fear of the unknown. Gender has always been a stable topic until recently and we have no historical knowledge to learn how to deal with the introduction of trans people. It is a new topic and people like Donald Trump now advocate for the known, which are the LGTBQ community. In his eyes it is better to support the familiar over the unfamiliar and it is easier to make enemies of those who will struggle to find support.
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