The following weekly digest is written and compiled by the Trans Formations Project, a grassroots nonprofit dedicated to tracking and educating about the anti-trans legislative crisis currently sweeping the United States. You can follow their work and latest updates via Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Tumblr, and Facebook.
Hello readers. It’s Friday, September 13, 2024.
As a reminder, legislative sessions are different for each state — and you can keep track of your state’s legislative session here.
Editorial Feature
The Presidential Debate
While the TFP Editorial team may discuss the merits of proposed legislation, we do not endorse political candidates. The information provided in this article is intended to inform readers about the range of political options available to them.
This week, on Tuesday, September 10, Americans spectated as former President Donald Trump and sitting Vice President Kamala Harris debated one another for the first time. Neither candidate addressed anti-trans legislation explicitly, focusing instead on other hot-button topics: immigration, the economy, abortion, and election security, among others. Despite a noted lack of explicit discussion on trans rights, both Trump and Harris spoke indirectly about issues that impact the LGBTQIA+ community.
In this editorial column, we’ll take an in-depth look at some of the statements made in Tuesday’s debate. What follows will focus on LGBTQIA+ topics. If you’d like to hear about other important policies discussed in the debate, we encourage you to either watch a recording or read an official transcript.
1. Project 2025
Trump and Harris exchanged a number of jabs over Project 2025, The Heritage Foundation’s extensive policy plan for a right-wing American government. Harris first referred to the Project as a “detailed and dangerous plan . . . that the former president plans on implementing if he were elected again.” Trump denied this immediately, refusing any association with Project 2025. He went on to claim that the Project contained some good ideas and some bad ones, but remained firm in distancing himself from the controversial policy plan. “I haven’t read it,” Trump stated during the debate. “I don’t want to read it, purposely. I’m not going to read it.”
While it is true that Trump himself did not develop any policies for Project 2025, several former members of the Trump Administration collaborated on the Project. It is probable that a second Trump term would see the implementation of at least some anti-trans, anti-LGBTQIA+ policies outlined in Project 2025. Read our coverage of those policies here.
