Well, they finally tried it. They tried to assassinate former President Trump on Saturday, July 13th, 2024, at a rally in Pennsylvania. He was shot in the ear, but he survived. I can’t say that I am surprised, I’m just surprised that it took this long for someone to try. One person dead and two others hurt, and the gunman killed. I can’t help but seeing that newsreel in my mind of Malcolm X saying the chickens have come home to roost. I’m not saying the assassination attempt was justified, there are other ways of preventing Trump from taking office again, like voting. I hope this doesn’t push Trump to take up the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 Plan if he wins the office. This might just be the push in the direction that will set Trump over the edge. Project 2025 is a book that outlines guidelines for the Federal government written by a far-right coalition with the hopes of their allies returning to the Oval Office on January 20, 2025.
“Spearheaded and organized by the far-right the Heritage Foundation, and with 100 coalition partner organizations, many of which are well-known for pushing anti-LGBTQ policy, legal efforts, and harmful rhetoric, accompanied by Christian nationalism. Trump says he has distanced himself from Project 2025, but some of the policies in the Project 2025 agenda have been discussed by Republicans for years or pushed by Trump himself: less federal intervention in education and more support for school choice; work requirements for able-bodied, childless adults on food stamps; and a secure border with increased enforcement of immigration laws, mass deportations and construction of a border wall (GLAAD, “Election 2024: Exposing Project 2025,” 2024).”
“The plan includes firing federal employees that oppose or insufficiently support right-wing policies, ending access to abortion and contraception, and eliminating protections for LGBTQ people. The document even calls for erasing LGBTQ-inclusive language throughout federal agencies such as “the terms sexual orientation and gender identity (“SOGI”), diversity, equity, and inclusion, gender, gender equality, gender equity, gender awareness, gender-sensitive, abortion, reproductive health, reproductive rights.”
Though not named, Donald Trump is the only 2024 candidate who would be poised to enact the project’s mission, and the project’s director has indicated he expects “and hopes” Trump will win the presidency. Heritage’s stated support for freedom and limited government does not extend to LGBTQ Americans, as evidenced by decades of waging losing battles against: out LGBTQ military service, LGBTQ Boy Scouts and leaders, marriage equality, protections against discrimination for LGBTQ workers, LGBTQ parents, bans on “conversion therapy”, evidence-based healthcare for transgender youth and supporting bans on LGBTQ-inclusive books, curriculum and books about racism.
Additionally, the Heritage Foundation wrote and coordinated copycat state legislation targeting health care for transgender youth, opposes the Equality Act, criticized the Bostock ruling, and opposes anti-discrimination laws.
Partner organizations in Project 2025’s advisory board include anti-LGBTQ groups Alliance Defending Freedom, Eagle Forum, Family Policy Alliance, Moms for Liberty, Turning Point USA, and dozens of other far-right organizations.
Project 2025 aims to gut protections for the LGBTQ community, which its organizers believe exists in opposition to the “traditional American family” and its Christian nationalist underpinnings. The Project would prioritize families “comprised of a married mother, father, and their children,” and would eliminate any federal policies that promote LGBTQ equality or that assist single mothers. The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) reports that the project claims falsely that, “Only heterosexual, two-parent families are safe for children, and that, ‘All other family forms involve higher levels of instability (the average length of same-sex marriages is half that of heterosexual marriages); financial stress or poverty; and poor behavioral, psychological, or educational outcomes.’ (Their data on the length of marriages is false).” (GLAAD, “Election 2024: Exposing Project 2025,” 2024).
This Project 2025 is not an official document or has been made into law, but to think that these wealthy organizations with influence are still working to dismantle what LGBTQ communities have worked towards in the last 15 years. Last 60 years really. It is scary to think what this plan will do to our community. The ban on books alone would devastate the growth of the LGBTQ community. And you know they are not for Black people or other minorities. That goes without saying. If they have these extreme views about religion, racism doesn’t follow too far behind. It seems like America is trying to revert back to a 1950s conservative America. That just can’t happen. We have come to far to go backwards.
I know first hand how conservative Trump is. His policies had affected me directly at one point. First his ban on Terrorist countries. Then he extended the ban to countries that may have a high level of Muslims. However, when it was all said and done, he was preventing people from different countries settling in America. I was trying to bring my young, soon-to-be ex, Nigerian, husband to this country. Trump was not trying to let that happen. I can’t say that he would have prevented the immigration a hundred percent, but he definitely made it difficult. I had to pay an immigration lawyer an extra two thousand dollars to execute a loophole to get my fiancé here. It was crazy. I was so happy when Biden took office, and by executive order, reversed all the bans that Trump had put in place. I was elated. I immediately called my lawyer and got my money back.
It wouldn’t be that surprising if Trump did espouse Project 2025. He probably won’t do it publicly not to piss off other American voters even more, but he’s a shady businessman. I can see him having a meeting with the Heritage Foundation and discussing Project 2025 without officially endorsing it. He has put in place some of the most extreme conservative Supreme Court Justices in office, and they are considerably young too, so they will be in office for some years to come. Everyone knows what type of person Trump can be.
Don’t get me wrong, this not a berate on Trump. This is more about Project 2025. We have to do better. And being that the LGBTQ community is under attack again, we have to speak up. You can speak up in different ways. Maybe someone is having a conversation about Biden being to old to run the country. Kindly tell them to look at Trump’s track record personally and professionally while running the country, and then look at Biden’s. Even Vice President Kamala Harris is more stable a candidate than Trump. Keep in mind, this is my opinion. But speak up. Get out and help voting campaigns and support our LGBTQ special interest groups. Donate to a cause if you cannot be present. Every little bit of engagement helps.
To tell you the truth, I never voted until Trump got in office, and I’m in my forties. I just never thought that my vote would make a difference. The popular candidate usually wins anyway. Surely that didn’t happen this time. I just knew Hillary Clinton was a shoo-in for president. Former U.S. Senator, the former First Lady, Secretary of State; I just knew she was going to win. I was shocked when she didn’t. So, when Biden got on the ballot, I ordered my mail-in ballot and voted for the first time in my entire life. When Biden won, I felt like I had contributed to making a difference in the outcome of the country and in my life. Never did I think a president would affect me so much, so directly. Now I make it a point to vote in every election. I vote for Mayors, Judges and even City Council. It is very important.
Imagine if I lost my “Black” job and I had to start a business for myself to earn an income. I would surely see the effects of what the presidency has done to the economy. Most of us have regular nine to five, but 16.2 million people were self-employed in 2023. That’s almost 10% of the workforce (Luisa Zhou, “How Many Americans Are Self Employed?”, April 2024.) We do not see or realize the effects of the economy because our pay checks are stabilized. But what if they weren’t. We would, by all means, be voting in every election.
The privileges we have now were not given to us, we had to fight for them. Can you imagine not being able to buy one of your favorite author’s books because it is LGBTQ in content? They are already censoring books on Race and Gender. A book I read in 1989 as a child in my African-styled private school about Apartheid has been banned now impart because it has a homosexual sex abuse scene among other things, and it’s an important book. So let’s be aware and keep Project 2025 out of our lives. We don’t need that kind of rhetoric.
This is mostly me opinion. Some of the Blogs will be just to give information out to the readers. Hope this was informative. Bye, Arthur.