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This Is How Easily Marriage Equality Could Be Undone

Will same-sex marriage even make it to its second anniversary?

Like many of us, Matt Baume is worried about what Donald Trump's election will mean for the LGBT community.

"I started looking into emigration the day after the election, but it's difficult to move abroad," says Baume, a go-to voice on LGBT issues and author of Defining Marriage.

JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty

An anti same-sex marriage demonstrator stands in front of the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, June 18, 2015, awaiting the court's landmark decision. AFP PHOTO/JIM WATSON (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)

"I do wonder if queer Americans will start trying to claim refugee status in Canada and elsewhere, because the attacks in this country are becoming so intense."

Sound dramatic? It's not. Today, as the Electoral College casted its final votes, Baume released a YouTube video that lays out how frighteningly easy it could be for Republicans to undermine marriage equality once Trump takes office.

Groups like the National Organization for Marriage have already begun the process by:

1. Weakening marriage protections

"They can't stop marriage altogether, not at first," Baume explains, "but in a variety of states there are subtler efforts already underway."

The Arkansas Supreme Court just gave the state the green light to withholding the right of same-sex couples to have both parents' names listed on their child's birth certificate. Other states have started to take similar action.

2. Making strategic appointments

"Among Donald's picks to fill seats on the Supreme Court is Bill Pryor," Baume says, "a judge who's already spoke in favor of letting states arrest gay couples for having sex in the privacy of their own homes."

And it isn't only Supreme Court appointments we have to worry about: It's his whole cabinet.

3. Using lawsuits to overturn marriage

"It would be very weird if the US Supreme Court reversed their marriage equality decision after just a few years," Baume says, "but very weird things have been happening a lot lately."

Watch Baum's full video below.

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