The rights of LGBTQ people and women are on the line in the 2024 election. Central to the issue is Project 2025, a 900-page plan backed by conservative groups. If implemented, this plan would roll back anti-discrimination protections and restrict access to reproductive healthcare.
With the potential return of Trump and a conservative agenda, it’s more important than ever for voters to understand what’s at stake.
Project 2025 and Why It Matters
Project 2025 is a 900-page document authored by the Heritage Foundation and over 100 right-wing organizations that promote anti-LGBTQ policies and Christian nationalism. It’s a 180-day roadmap for regulations and executive orders that the next conservative president could implement upon taking office.
The document proposes a major overhaul of the federal government. This includes plans to fire government employees who refuse to pledge loyalty to the president, create a database of potential appointees, and establish an online “education academy” to train appointees in conservative principles.
Beyond restructuring federal agencies, Project 2025 also outlines plans to restrict LGBTQ rights and eliminate reproductive freedoms. Key issues include eliminating marriage equality, curbing discussions about LGBTQ topics in schools, limiting access to gender-affirming healthcare, repealing anti-discrimination policies, and restricting abortions.
5 Reasons Why Voting in This Election Matters for Women and LGBTQ People
1. Marriage Equality Is Under Threat
The Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges was a landmark victory for the LGBTQ community, legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide and granting same-sex couples the same legal recognition, benefits, and protections as heterosexual couples.
Before the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade, many believed Obergefell was secure. However, Justice Clarence Thomas’s opinion in the Dobbs ruling raised concerns that the Court might also reconsider the Obergefell ruling.
Project 2025’s extreme anti-LGBTQ stance raises concerns about the future of LGBTQ rights if Trump is re-elected. Specifically, the document states that the government should only recognize marriages between a man and a woman, claiming this is the ideal family model.
2. Education Restrictions: The Battle for Inclusive Classrooms
One of Project 2025’s most alarming proposals is dismantling the Department of Education (DOE). Many conservatives criticize the DOE for supporting progressive educational policies, particularly under Democratic administrations. For example, the Biden administration has introduced additional protections for transgender students under Title IX, a federal civil rights law prohibiting sex discrimination in education.
To counteract these perceived threats to conservative values, Project 2025 proposes several anti-LGBTQ measures.
It seeks to eliminate LGBTQ-inclusive curricula in schools and replace them with materials that promote values such as the nuclear family and traditional gender roles. Additionally, it would prohibit students from using names or pronouns different from those on their birth certificates. If implemented, these policies would create a hostile educational environment for LGBTQ students and staff.
3. Healthcare Access and Gender-Affirming Care
While all LGBTQ people would be affected by a second Trump term and the implementation of Project 2025, the trans community would face the most significant challenges.
In campaign speeches, Trump has called for federal agencies to end programs that “promote … gender transition at any age.” He has specifically targeted gender-affirming care for minors, threatening to revoke funding from hospitals that provide these services and subjecting them to investigations by the Department of Justice.
This issue goes beyond healthcare. It directly impacts the dignity of trans people. Access to gender-affirming care is essential for their well-being and allows them to live authentically without fear of discrimination.
4. Repealing Anti-Discrimination Policies
Trump’s history of repealing anti-discrimination policies is well-documented. During his presidency, he led a sustained effort to roll back protections for LGBTQ people, particularly transgender individuals. This included banning transgender people from serving in the military, attempting to limit healthcare protections under the Affordable Care Act, and allowing homeless shelters to deny access based on gender identity.
If re-elected in 2024, Trump has vowed to continue these efforts. A key target is the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, which extended workplace protections to LGBTQ employees.
His administration aims to rescind federal protections against LGBTQ discrimination, arguing that civil rights laws don’t cover sexual orientation or gender identity. These changes would remove critical protections for LGBTQ people in areas like employment, voting, housing, education, and healthcare.
This approach is echoed in Project 2025, which criticizes the Bostock ruling and opposes broader anti-discrimination protections for the LGBTQ community.
5. Reproductive Rights Have Never Been More Fragile
Trump’s appointment of three conservative Supreme Court justices led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. This move ended federal abortion protections and shifted the issue to states. Since then, over a dozen states have enacted total abortion bans, limiting access for millions.
A potential Trump re-election, along with Project 2025, would further restrict reproductive care nationwide. Project 2025 plans to revoke FDA approval for medication abortion, permit harassment of clinic staff and patients, and establish an abortion surveillance system.
Beyond restricting abortion access, Project 2025 also aims to make accessing birth control and emergency contraception more difficult.
The 2024 election represents a crossroads for the future of reproductive rights, making it a central issue for voters concerned about women’s healthcare and bodily autonomy.
Your Vote Matters: Make a Difference for LGBTQ and Women’s Rights
Electing the Democratic Party is crucial for protecting LGBTQ and women’s rights. Their platform supports the Equality Act, which would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in housing, healthcare, and public services.
And this commitment is more than just words. Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, have consistently supported LGBTQ rights. Harris was an early advocate for marriage equality, officiating same-sex weddings in 2004 as San Francisco’s district attorney.
Walz launched a Gay-Straight Alliance in a rural high school in 1999 and, as governor, signed a 2023 trans refuge bill and banned conversion therapy.
As an LGBTQ-affirmative facility, La Fuente Hollywood Treatment Center supports Kamala Harris for president. We encourage our alumni and current patients to exercise their constitutional right to vote. Our community has far too much to lose from another Trump presidency.
