With November’s Presidential election drawing near, Atlantans — along with the rest of the United States — must contend with the realities of two very different candidates and two very different possible administrations.
Though competing displays between candidates have drummed up the public’s attention — from Trump’s recent appearance cooking fries at McDonald’s to Harris’ viral Kamala HQ TikTok account — the policies associated with the candidates have also stirred speculation on what their time in office could look like. Recently, attention has centered on Project 2025 — a 900-page policy platform and playbook created by The Heritage Foundation, a conservative D.C. think tank.
The document outlines in detail the sweeping changes the next conservative administration should make within the federal government, from the White House to the Department of Justice to the Federal Reserve. As its length suggests, Project 2025 is not just a collection of a few key policies, but a biblical overhaul of the American governmental system.
Logically, Project 2025 would be implemented in the next Republican administration. However, with more than half of registered voters holding a “very negative” view of the project, according to a recent NBC News poll, Trump has attempted to distance himself from the conservative manifesto. During the presidential debate on September 10, Trump asserted that he had “nothing to do” with the project. Despite his efforts, the role of former Trump officials in the creation of Project 2025 has raised questions about whether Trump would disregard Project 2025 upon taking office. For example, Mandy Gunasekara, the former chief of staff of the Environmental Protection Agency, advocates for the reduction of the EPA’s jurisdiction in her section of the playbook.
Among the hundreds of policy changes proposed by the authors, some of the most notable revolve around LGBTQ rights. Lindsey Burke, the Director of the Center for Education Policy at the Heritage Foundation, outlines the proposals for the Department of Education in Section 3 of the platform. In her section, Burke advises for the dissolution of the Department of Education, distributing much of the department’s powers back to the states, with the remainder being absorbed by other departments. Part of the motivation for greatly curtailing the federal government’s role in public education lies in the recent conservative pushback against inclusive classroom policies.
In Georgia, controversy over public education curriculum has sent waves through both local government and the state legislature. Last legislative session, the Georgia Senate passed House Bill 1104, a conglomeration of various conservative policies aimed at preventing transgender students’ participation in sports, alerting parents whenever their child checks out a book from a school library, and limiting access to sex education policy. Project 2025 reflects a similar demonization of LGBTQ students on a national level, arguing for amendments to Title IX that would place strict definitions on “sex” and the passage of a federal-level Parents Bill of Rights — similar to the one Georgia’s legislature passed in 2022 — which would give parents undue influence over their students’ curriculum and teachers.
Furthermore, when it comes to employer discrimination against LGBTQ people, Project 2025 argues for curtailing the scope of implementing the Supreme Court’s 2020 Bostock v. Clayton County decision, which asserted that Title VII prevented discrimination against employees based on their sexuality or gender identity.
Overall, Project 2025’s anti-LGBTQ proposals are based on one idea: LGTBQ people are a danger to society, both in schools and in the working world. With a strong focus on eliminating the diversity, equity, and inclusion principles that have been incorporated into the federal government over the past few years, Project 2025 argues for the alienation of LGBTQ community members and the restoration of “traditional” values of sex and sexuality.
It is clear that, though Trump insists otherwise, his strong ties to the creators of Project 2025 naturally lead to the reality that, if he is elected, many of these detrimental policies and federal reorganizations would be implemented, harming LGBTQ communities across the nation and emboldening state legislatures to take their anti-LGBTQ legislation even further.
Voting has never been more essential to protecting our rights and our democracy. Early voting began in Georgia on October 15 and continues until November 1, before Election Day on November 5.