Turns out the “radical left” conspiracy theory, Project 2025, used to fear‑monger voters during the 2024 presidential campaign wasn’t a conspiracy theory at all. I’m sure OFM readers aren’t shocked by the reality of Project 2025. Who would have thought a very real, 920‑page document—published by the Heritage Foundation—was, in fact, real? And the worst part? Project 2025 is just the beginning. Another document, Restoring America’s Promise, released in March 2025, expands the same dehumanizing priorities. I don’t think I’m alone when I say 2025 was a dumpster fire with the temperament of a starving beast—the kind that drags you in, gnaws on your sanity, and spits you back out. Enter Project 2025: the moment the flames picked up a clipboard. Suddenly the fire had a mission statement, bullet points, and the kind of follow‑through you only ever see in villains and overachievers. And naturally, queer Americans were treated like a problem to be solved instead of people trying to survive capitalism with a little dignity and maybe a houseplant.Burn Scars from the “It’ll Never Happen” Firestorm of 2025
The dumpster fire didn’t just get organized— It got results. The Heritage Foundation handed its wish list to the new administration in the form of executive orders that only needed a signature. That’s when Project 2025 woke up hungry and started running—turning its wish list into policy like an arsonist with a bullet journal. And the first to feel its heat were queer Americans. One of the first Executive [dis]Orders required federal health agencies to erase any mention of “gender ideology.” Agencies like the CDC scrubbed LGBTQ+ data until a federal judge ordered it restored. Another scorch mark: sweeping cuts to LGBTQ+ research and healthcare. The NIH canceled $800 million in grants and directed agencies to prioritize studies on “regret rates”—their term, not mine—while simultaneously creating barriers to gender‑affirming care. As if that wasn’t enough, the administration reversed Biden‑era protections and pushed a “biblical” definition of family, putting queer marriage and adoption rights at risk. This is only the queer chapter. If I tried to cover everything Project 2025 scorched, this piece would need its own table of contents—and we’d all need snacks and a support group. For context, the above meme was a repost response to another X post framing right-winged attacks on media as assaults to the First Amendment. The GIF of Jack Nicholson nodding was a response from Brandon Carr who is the architect behind the section about the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) in Project 2025. The creepy confirmation nod is now what I imagine the Heritage Foundation looking like when people mention project 2025.
2026: Containment? Yeah … About That
As we carry our 2025 burn fatigue into 2026, doing our best to believe in hope even when we can’t see it through the lingering smoke they keep insisting never existed, Restoring America’s Promise continues fueling the fire they claim we started. It doesn’t detail specific policy, but like Project 2025, its priorities are rooted in the same accelerant. The Heritage Foundation promises to “restore the nuclear family,” claiming that “radical ideologies” about gender, marriage, and bodily autonomy “poison” American life. If this is their opening pitch, we know exactly what they’ll call “contained” in 2026. We’re also waiting on major SCOTUS rulings—birthright citizenship, conversion therapy in Colorado, and transgender participation in athletics. And that’s just what’s already on the docket. The truth is, the fire will keep spreading. But so will the resistance. The next part of the story depends on how we fight back.Where the Fire Spreads, the Resistance Rises
They say fighting fire with fire doesn’t work, but sometimes we’re left with no choice. And in 2026, that fire looks like people stepping forward—filing lawsuits, running for office, refusing to let the blaze burn unchecked—because survival becomes strategy and resistance becomes necessity. We’re already fighting back by electing LGBTQ+ officials at all levels. The Out for America report shows that despite hateful rhetoric, LGBTQ+ candidates continued to see strong electoral success. Between June 2024 and May 2025, the number of LGBTQ+ officials rose to 1,334—up from just 448 in 2017. Representation is still growing, a flame we will continue to protect. We’re also fighting back through the courts. Over 550 cases have been filed challenging the administration’s actions—far more than any president in this millennium. Of the cases decided so far, the administration has lost more than it has won. And while it often feels like legal action doesn’t matter, the sheer volume of challenges is evidence of a resistance rising, ember by ember, even in the thickest smoke. This past year has been beyond exhausting. I started 2025 clinging to the meme that says, “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.” I didn’t know the dumpster fire would turn into a monster determined to extinguish it. When I thought there was no spark left, I remembered: A phoenix can’t rise without a fire. When the resistance pays off, an army of phoenixes will rise from the ashes—but only if we keep showing up, keep speaking out, and keep choosing to be the spark that refuses to go out. The fire tried to take everything from us this year. In 2026, we decide what rises from it. 
