THE WALLS ARE CLOSING IN: A Dream of Erasure Becoming Reality

Last night, I woke from a dream I can’t fully recall—except for the sense of dread it left behind. The walls felt like they were closing in, silent and certain, and that feeling hasn’t left me. It wasn’t a nightmare filled with strange visions or violence; it was quieter than that—more insidious. It was a constriction of space, a suffocating sensation, as if the air itself had turned hostile. When I woke up, I still felt the weight of it pressing down on me. As I lay there, I realized that it felt less like a dream and more like the world whispering threats in my ear. That feeling of the walls pressing in wasn’t just a product of my sleep; it comes from a reality where governments and politicians are actively building those walls in real time.

THE FABRICATION OF AN ENEMY

For nearly two decades, anti-trans rhetoric has been wielded as a political distraction. In the mid-2010s, Republican politicians, desperate to deflect from scandal and corruption, discovered they could rally their base by targeting transgender people. They leaned on invented “stranger danger” scenarios about bathrooms and sports, despite the evidence: women are exponentially more likely to be harmed by cisgender men they already know than by a trans woman in a public restroom.

It worked. The bigotry caught on. What began as political misdirection metastasized into a movement that now defines conservative platforms on both sides of the border.

Fifteen years ago, it was easy for some to dismiss this as fringe. Today, it is federal policy in the United States.

THE ARCHITECTURE OF ERASURE

In 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice subpoenaed more than 20 hospitals for the medical records of transgender youth—demanding names, birthdates, guardian information, insurance details, even doctors’ notes and text messages. The official justification? Investigating “fraud.” The real effect? Compiling lists of children and families who dared to seek gender-affirming care.

At the same time, federal employees and their families are being stripped of coverage for that care altogether. The Pentagon has ordered medical records reviewed so transgender service members can be identified and expelled. At the Department of Veterans Affairs, anti-discrimination protections have been erased, and even Pride flags have been banned from office walls.

This is not subtle. It is systemic erasure, bureaucratized and made to look routine.

And the federal government is not alone. As of this year, 25 U.S. states have enacted bans on gender-affirming care for youth, affecting more than 100,000 trans kids. Nearly a thousand anti-trans bills are circulating through state legislatures; 121 have already passed in 2025 alone. These are not symbolic. They are reshaping the lives of families in real time, forcing some to uproot and flee, while others are left to choose between breaking the law or denying their children lifesaving treatment.

Every major medical body in North America, from the American Academy of Pediatrics to the Canadian Paediatric Society, has affirmed what study after study proves: gender-affirming care saves lives. But when governments decide that evidence and expertise don’t matter, it isn’t science that wins. It’s fear.

THE NORTHERN ECHO

I live in Canada, but the dread follows me home. I would like to believe the walls are thicker here, harder to breach. But cracks are already showing.

In Alberta, sweeping laws now ban hormone therapy for minors under 15 and prohibit trans women from participating in female sports. Schools are forced to secure parental consent before any child under 16 can even ask to be called by their chosen name or pronouns. Saskatchewan and New Brunswick have introduced similar consent requirements, effectively outing children against their will.

At the federal level, the influence of anti-trans rhetoric is already tangible. Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative Party leader, has repeatedly echoed misinformation about transgender Canadians in speeches and social media posts, framing fundamental rights and recognition as threats to children or society. Even outside federal arenas, these narratives seep into provincial and municipal politics, emboldening local politicians and bureaucrats to adopt policies that restrict access to gender-affirming care, limit the use of chosen names and pronouns in schools, or curtail trans participation in sports. What begins as messaging at the top quickly becomes a justification for action at the ground level, making the walls of hostility feel closer in our own communities.

These measures are framed as “protecting children.” But in reality, they put vulnerable youth at greater risk of isolation, depression, and suicide. They treat support not as care, but as a threat. And while the United States may currently lead in cruelty, Canada is watching—and copying.

WHY IT MATTERS TO EVERYONE

Some will dismiss this as a “culture war” issue, as though it concerns only a small, misunderstood group. But make no mistake: once governments succeed in erasing one minority, they rarely stop there.

If history teaches us anything, it’s that erosion of rights begins at the margins and works inward. In the 1950s, it was gay teachers who were fired for “immorality.” In the 1990s, the AIDS epidemic was allowed to rage unchecked. Now it is trans kids banned from their own names. The walls may close in on me first, but sooner or later, they will close in on you.

THE DREAM AND THE WARNING

My dream was not prophecy—it was reflection. The walls are already moving, inch by inch, through laws, policies, and propaganda. The lists are being made. The history is being rewritten. The language is being twisted until “transgender” is no longer a word for a community of people, but a political weapon to describe something deviant, criminal, or disposable.

But here is the truth that no subpoena, no ban, no policy can erase: we are still here. Even as governments strip protections, trans communities continue to create networks of care. Allies stand up in classrooms, courtrooms, and boardrooms. We resist, we build, we endure. Just as hate crosses borders, so does solidarity. Every voice matters, every refusal to stay silent pushes the walls back.

NO LONGER A DREAM

For those outside our community, this is not the time for passive sympathy. If you believe in dignity, in freedom, in the basic humanity of your neighbours, this is your call to action. Speak up when you hear lies repeated. Support local queer and trans organizations. Vote with conscience. Challenge the disinformation spreading in your own circles. Because silence is not neutral. It is permission.

Last night, the walls closed in on me. Today, I write so they cannot close in on us all.

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