LGBTQ Americans often felt under attack in the first year of the second Trump administration. NBC News reporter Jo Yurcaba made it their mission to expose the impacts of the administration’s policies and rhetoric and to tell the stories of the community — and specifically, transgender people — who were most affected.
Yurcaba achieved this through strong sourcing and expertise drawn from years on the LGBTQ beat. They produced a drumbeat of stories that showed a deep understanding of the issues facing transgender people under an administration that seeks to erase their existence. And they sensitively told complex stories that captured a range of experiences, from those facing immediate harm from anti-trans policies to those who were finding ways to celebrate their identity even amid a difficult political moment.
In the spring of 2025, dozens of hospitals, including in liberal cities, announced that they were ending gender-affirming care programs for anyone under 19 to comply with an executive order President Trump issued in January. It was unclear just how many hospitals had changed their care programs, so Yurcaba compiled the first clear estimate of hospitals that had temporarily or permanently ended their care programs for minors.
In August, Yurcaba reported the first exclusive interview with a transgender woman who had been approved for early retirement after serving 15 years in the Air Force only to have that approval reversed and her retirement benefits rescinded. Until then, there were no public accounts from trans service members who had been affected by the sudden policy reversal.
Yurcaba also highlighted how the LGBTQ community continued to thrive despite an increasingly hostile political environment. In October, they traveled to Reno, Nevada, to cover the World Gay Rodeo Finals, which celebrated 50 years of gay rodeo. The story, and its incredible original photography, captured an organization that has fought for safe, joyful space for decades and refuses to stop anytime soon.
