By JOCELYN GECKER and SHARON LURYE

Transgender youth in the United States have been flooding crisis hotlines since choice to Donald Trump, who did anti-transgender themes central to his campaign. Many teenagers worry about how their lives might change once he takes office.

During his presidential bid, Trump pledged to impose sweeping restrictions and roll back civil rights protections for transgender students. And his administration can quickly begin working on a major change: It can exclude transgender students from the Title IX protectionaffecting school policies regarding student use of pronouns, bathrooms and locker rooms.

An ad aired more than 15,000 times crystallized Trump’s position on the rights of transgender and nonbinary Americans: “Kamala is for them/them. President Trump is for you.”

To a teenager in Alabama, the ad seemed to portray transgender and nonbinary people as a threat to society. The weekend before Election Day, the 16-year-old, who identifies as non-binary and uses the pronouns “he” and “she,” called a crisis line at the Rainbow Youth Project. The group, which serves LGBTQ+ youth, received more than 5,500 calls to its crisis line in the past 10 days, compared to the 3,700 calls it typically receives each month.

The teenager was in despair and struggling with suicidal thoughts, according to his mother, Carolyn Fisher. She said she didn’t realize the depth of her child’s depression and how painful it was for him to see political ads that felt like a personal attack.

With the help of crisis counselors, Fisher said her teenager started to feel better. But the bullying at school got worse, with some students telling her child Trump would make him “go back in the closet,” Fisher said.

“The kids who made fun of him are now proud of themselves and they’re struggling,” she said.

EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the US National Suicide and Crisis Helpline is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org.

Opposition to transgender rights has been central to Trump’s campaign: Republican ads attacking political opponents over transgender or LGBTQ+ issues have aired more than 290,000 times on network TV since March 2023, according to data from media tracking firm AdImpact.

The message may have resonated with many Americans. More than half of voters overall — and the vast majority of Trump supporters — said support for transgender rights in government and society has gone too far, according to AP VoteCast, a poll of more than 120,000 voters nationwide.

President Joe Biden’s administration expanded recognition of transgender rights just this year. His interpretation Title IXa flagship law on sex discrimination, depends heavily on the executive branch, although court rulings can affect enforcement.