What a Second Trump Term Would Mean For Young Americans
As young people in this country, it may be overwhelming to be met with so much information all at once when thinking about the election. But this election year is critical for many reasons– most of all, solidifying and stabilizing access to human rights.
Project 2025 was created by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that has shaped the GOP’s platform since 1973. One example of their influence on actual policy would be the Reagan Doctrine, in which the Foundation was critical in developing and advancing. The Project is intended to be a blueprint for the next Republican president, with a list of sweeping reforms and restrictions to be instituted.
Former President Donald Trump has denied any involvement in Project 2025, saying in the September 10th Presidential Debate that he hadn’t read it. However, this project, while not outwardly endorsed by Trump, overlapped with Trump's own goals and was written by many conservatives who worked with the Trump administration. Tom Homan, one of the authors of Project 2025 and former acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), would be brought into the Trump administration if Trump was reelected. Homan, on Trump’s reelection and the policies he would implement, said “I will run the biggest deportation force this country has ever seen” and “Wait until 2025,” seemingly alluding to the Project. Some similarities between his own agenda and the Project’s is that both want to reinstitute Trump-era immigration policies, strengthen executive power, roll back LGBTQ+ and DEI programs, and abolish the Department of Education. One difference in views is on military preparedness, with the Project taking a more aggressive standpoint on international relations and regulations concerning China. Other than that, the Project just takes a stronger standpoint on views that Trump has endorsed and agreed with.
While many of us might see infographics on Instagram talking about the horrors of Project 2025, they do not fully explain the extent to which the project could harm Americans. In the 922-page manifesto, the Heritage Project calls for the removal of several terms – “sexual orientation,” “gender equality,” “abortion,” and “reproductive rights” – from laws and federal regulations. This is based on the claim that these terms “deprive Americans from their first amendment rights,” but what is so unconstitutional about human rights? If these terms were removed from federal documents, it would mean any federal documents that might protect reproductive rights, queer people, and women, would be significantly hindered. This blatant attack on female and LGBTQ+ Americans represents what is terrifying about the idea of a second Trump term– the lack of accessibility to freedoms that have been granted in America for decades.
As a young woman and a queer young woman at that, I think of my future and am met with a wave of anxiety. The overturning of Roe v. Wade was a great loss for all and the loss of personal autonomy for many. After electing a majority conservative Supreme Court, Trump-era rulemaking extends into the present day, even without his active influence. Without a president who will actively fight for human rights such as the right to marriage, to choice, and to freedom, I grow increasingly distressed. Many teenage girls like me dream of the day they get married, but I am not thinking of the flowers, or what dress I will wear– I just hope that the Supreme Court will still allow me to.
Donald Trump is a danger to our democracy. By attempting to rescind federal policies that prohibit gender and sexuality discrimination, Trump has shown that he is not acting in the best interest of the American population, and instead working against those who he claims to protect. He has already stripped protections of transgender Americans, and he is looking to go further if reelected; the proposed policies include blocking gender-affirming, lifesaving medical care for transgender people enrolled in federal healthcare programs. A second Trump term would mean the loss of inherent human rights, the loss of freedom, and the loss of safety. I hope that the American people see this violation of rights and are filled with just as much concern as I am– our future depends on it.
By Caroline Lackey