LGBTQIA+

Summary of Impacts

Project 2025 recommends reducing environmental regulations on business which will lead to higher emissions and environmental harm. It suggests withdrawing from international environmental agreements which will lead to the breakdown of global efforts to fight climate change. It aims to cut funding for research into climate change and renewable energy, weakening future technological innovation.

Key Quotes

“Remove the U.S. from any association with U.N. and other efforts to push sustainable-development schemes connected to food production”
(Bakst 325)

“Revisit the designation of PFAS chemicals as ‘hazardous substances'”
(Gunasekara Page 463)

“Make the design, development, and deployment of new nuclear warheads a top priority.”
(McNamee 430)

Impacts on LGBTQIA+ Rights

Project 2025 plans to impose several policies that will hurt the LGBTQIA+ community. Not only does it aim to roll back rights like marriage equality and protections against discrimination – it also calls for use the death penalty “where appropriate.”

The playbook also proposes banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender individuals, particularly young people. It suggests laws that would make it difficult for minors to receive affirming treatments unless their parents explicitly approve. This would make it harder for transgender youth to get the care they need for their mental and physical well-being.The policies would also affect cisgendered children who benefit from the use of hormone treatment like puberty blockers to prevent precocious puberty.

Additionally, the playbook includes plans to censor school curriculums and libraries from discussing LGBTQIA+ topics, which would erase queer identities and histories from educational settings, and further increase discrimination by exclusion.

Furthermore, “Project 2025” supports religious freedom laws that would allow businesses and healthcare providers to refuse services to LGBTQIA+ individuals based on religious beliefs. This would create significant barriers for LGBTQIA+ people in various sectors like healthcare and employment. The playbook also proposes policies that would exclude openly LGBTQIA+ individuals from serving in the military, reversing recent progress in military inclusivity. Overall, these policies would greatly increase discrimination and harm against LGBTQIA+ individuals.

Quotes from the Mandate

Page numbers refer to the Mandate for Leadership PDF

“Direct agencies to refocus enforcement of sex discrimination laws. The President should direct agencies to focus their enforcement of sex discrimination laws on the biological binary meaning of ‘sex.'” (General Welfare, Dept. of Labor, Page 617)

This policy ensures exclusions for transgender and non-binary individuals, leading to inevitable discrimination and entrenched marginalization of LGBTQ+ people.

“Rescind regulations prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, transgender status, and sex characteristics.” (General Welfare, Dept. of Labor, Page 616)

This policy is harmful to LGBTQ+ individuals as it seeks to remove protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and transgender status. Rescinding these regulations would allow employers and other entities to discriminate against LGBTQ+ individuals without legal repercussions, leading to increased marginalization and harm to this community.
For more information about specific regulations that will be rescinded, check out the DOL’s LGBTQI+ Policy page.

“Remove all guidance… concerning sexual orientation and gender identity… [and do] not enforce any prohibition on sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination” (General Welfare, Dept. of Health, Page 527)

In addition to removing guidance and not enforcing existing discrimination law for the LGBTQ+ community, the author calls for a rule to explicitly interpret the law NOT to include sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination, and to “defend this rule to the Supreme Court if necessary.” They plan to prioritize compliance with the First Amendment, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), and federal conscience laws.
An interesting subtlety in this section is the mention of Heckler v. Chaney, a court case where the Supreme Court ruled that federal agencies that refuse to enforce rules are not subject to judicial review unless there are other laws stating otherwise. Put simply, the next conservative administration will do nothing to protect the LGBTQ+ community from discrimination, and the courts won’t help.
This policy is terrifying for the LGBTQ+ community. Anyone will be able to legally refuse them any kind of healthcare (not just healthcare related to gender and sexual orientation). Transgender people are particularly affected by discrimination – 40% of trans respondents reported postponing or avoiding preventive screenings because of discrimination in a 2020 survey. This policy will lead to preventable deaths of our LGBTQ+ community.

“No public education employee or contractor shall use a name to address a student other than the name listed on a student’s birth certificate, without the written permission of a student’s parents or guardians” (General Welfare, Dept. of Education, Page 378)

In addition, gender pronouns must be consistent with biological sex. No public institution may require an education employee or contractor to use a pronoun that does not match a person’s biological sex if contrary to the employee’s or contractor’s religious or moral convictions.
This policy would harm transgender students by denying them the right to express their gender identity. Their mental health will suffer, especially if they are outed to unsupportive guardians. It would also create unnecessary administrative burden for schools.

“Where admissible in regulatory action, HUD should implement reforms reducing the implicit anti-marriage bias in housing assistance programs, strengthen work and work-readiness requirements, implement maximum term limits for residents in PBRA and TBRA programs, and end Housing First policies so that the department prioritizes mental health and substance abuse issues before jumping to permanent interventions in homelessness.” (Section III, Chapter 15, Page 541)

The PBRA [Project Based Rental Assistance] provides low-income families with decent, safe, and affordable housing. As of 2024, 1.2 million families would potentially lose housing if term limits were enacted. The TBRA [Tenant-Based Rental Assistance] helps individual households, rather than subsidizing particular rental projects and renters would be in danger of losing housing. Housing First is a program that helps get homeless individuals off the streets and into clean, affordable housing. Ending Housing First would mean that anyone who would qualify for the program would remain on the streets.

“Amend Title IX to include due process requirements; define “sex” under Title IX to mean only biological sex recognized at birth; and strengthen protections for faith-based educational institutions, programs, and activities.” (General Welfare, Dept. of Education, Page 365)

Title IX prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or education program that receives funding from the federal government. It already includes due process requirements.
The author expands on the changes related to sex later, advising to “abandon this change redefining ‘sex’ to mean ‘sexual orientation and gender identity’ in Title IX immediately… with the additional insistence that ‘sex’ is properly understood as a fixed biological fact.”
The changes proposed here will hamper justice for sexual assault victims, remove protections for the LGBTQ+ community, and exempt religious institutions from Title IX requirements (even though they receive federal funds).