I don’t really know the people around me.

That’s the feeling Caitlin Cunningham, a Missouri coffeehouse owner, has had after the 2024 election. Cunningham, who is nonbinary, has moments of alienation and worry even as they go about their routines in daily life.

“Standing in line at the bank and thinking the person behind me doesn’t think I’m a human being or would love to see me in some kind of camp, or shipped off to a different state so they didn’t have to deal with me,” Cunningham said.

For Cunningham and others, the message from the U.S. government is hitting harder and harder. […]