Donald Trump's decision to roll back legal protections for transgender youth has heightened fear in a community in New York and across the country that was already on edge. NY1's Michael Scotto reports.

Shear Avory moved from California to New York last year, not long after dropping out of high school. The bullying, Avory says, became too unbearable and went well beyond words. 

"I also experienced physical bullying and harassments," Avory said. 

The 18-year-old is transgender and now lives in a building operated by the Ali Forney Center, an organization that helps LGBT youth. 

Avory feels safer in New York, but still thinks twice about using a public bathroom.

"There have been instances where I've had to consider my safety, and have often had to wait until I got home to use the restroom," Avory said.

Transgender people say that fear has only grown since President Donald Trump's administration last week revoked Obama-era protections for transgender students who want to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with.  

The decision has sparked protests and, according to the Ali Forney Center, has put a spotlight on the concerns transgender people have with the Trump administration, particularly Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who is viewed as an opponent of LGBT rights. 

"It's a real sign that the Trump administration is not going to be on their side," said Carl Siciliano, executive director of the Ali Forney Center. "There was a sense with the Obama administration that finally the leaders of our country thought that trans lives mattered."

The organization says over the last year, they've seen a 20 percent jump in the number of young people coming to them for help.  

The increase, the group says, is due in part to a heated political season. People who work with transgender teens now struggle with what to tell them.

"It's difficult for me as a Hispanic transgender woman, it's very difficult that it gets better when I fear myself for my future," said Joanna Rivera, transgender housing supervisor at the Ali Forney Center.  

Avory has high hopes for the future. The teen wants to go to college and law school after getting a high school equivalency diploma.