The guardrails of democracy may have given way, but they are not yet broken. Since the former president that of Donald Trump During his re-election, leading allies of the president-elect boldly confirmed what many suspected: Project 2025The conservative project to undo decades of progress on LGBTQ+ rights, reproductive freedoms, climate protection and social equality is not just a concept. This is the order of the day.
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For months, the Trump campaign downplayed ties to the 900-page plan, developed by The Heritage Foundationwhich proposes a radical overhaul of American governance under a second Trump administration. Today, Trump's allies, buoyed by victory, openly present Project 2025 as a road map for implementing sweeping civil rights changes. LGBTQ+ protections and progressive policies.
Former Trump advisor and podcast host Steve Bannon wasted no time celebrating. Freshly released from prison, Bannon excitedly held up a copy of the project on his War room podcast, proclaiming it as a conservative triumph. “Now that the elections are over, I think we can finally say that yes, Project 2025 is on the agenda. Lol,” wrote commentator Matt Walsh in a post widely shared by Trump allies on X, formerly Twitter. Bannon said the project should be expanded “everywhere.”
The reality of Project 2025’s goals is alarming, especially for marginalized communities. Among its directives, the project calls for reversing the historic course Bostock v. Clayton County decision, which protects LGBTQ+ Americans from discrimination in the workplace. By erasing these protections, Project 2025 would enable workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, eroding gains in employment, housing and health care. In addition, he proposes to prohibit transgender Americans from the military, disbanding the White House Gender Policy Council and prioritizing policies that reinforce “traditional family values,” effectively sidelining diverse family structures, including couple families of the same sex.
Republican officials zealously adopt the punitive tone of the project. Bo French, a Texas A GOP official who has previously been criticized for using slurs against LGBTQ+ peoplesaid on social media: “Can we admit now that we are going to implement Project 2025?
The 2025 Project's proposals go beyond LGBTQ+ rights, targeting reproductive health, civil rights and environmental protection. He proposes a national ban on abortion pills, oversight of abortion access, rolling back climate policy and religious exemptions that allow discrimination in the workplace and other public services. As a conservative manifesto, the plan envisions a federal government overhauled to enforce harsh social policies while diminishing the rights and protections of vulnerable communities.
LGBTQ+ advocacy groups and civil rights organizations are sounding the alarm.
The Human Rights Campaign's national press secretary, Brandon Wolf, saw Walsh's message as a clarion call.
“Matt Walsh is simply saying what has been clear all along: Project 2025 and the Trump agenda are one and the same. The threat posed by Donald Trump and his playbook of hatred has always been real. Now it will be up to us to resist it at every turn,” Wolf said. The lawyer.
Executive Director of Advocates for Transgender Equality Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen discussed the reality of the Republican agenda in an interview with The lawyer. He said the open acknowledgment of Project 2025 had only confirmed what he and others feared. “They denied it and denied it, but we see we were right all along. This is absolutely their plan,” he said. The plan's promises, now fully embraced by Trump's allies, reflect a retaliatory agenda targeting progress made by LGBTQ+ Americans and other vulnerable groups, he said.
Heng-Lehtinen called the plan “outrageous” and acknowledged that people’s fear is real. “People are scared and that’s understandable,” he said, affirming A4TE’s commitment to supporting the LGBTQ+ community during this difficult time.
“Our community has experienced moments like this before. We know how to fight back,” he said, calling on LGBTQ+ people to take time, manage their fear, and then mobilize for what promises to be a long battle.
