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Let’s say you’re gay. Or Black. Or trans. Or Latino. Or any combination thereof.
And let’s say you support the Trump administration’s Project 2025 executive orders — the ones that eliminate DEI, restrict LGBTQ rights, gut civil-rights enforcement, and freeze housing funds like it’s a dystopian bake sale. Self‑Erasure Politics, you might as well just commit suicide.
Congratulations. You’ve unlocked a level of cognitive dissonance so advanced it should come with a cape and theme music.
This isn’t just political loyalty.
This is Olympic-grade self-betrayal.
Step 1: Develop Tunnel Vision So Narrow It’s Legally a Straw
To support Project 2025 executive orders while being part of a targeted group, you must master the art of selective perception.
You’ll need to look at:
- Executive Order 14151, which eliminates federal DEI programs
- Executive Order 14173, which rolls back LGBTQ workplace protections
- Immigration orders that attempt to end birthright citizenship
- DOJ memos that weaken civil-rights enforcement
- HUD freezes on public housing funds
- Health policy rollbacks that dismantle LGBTQ programs
…and say, “Well, at least the stock market’s up.”
This is not just tunnel vision.
This is tunnel vision with blackout curtains and noise-canceling headphones. Self‑Erasure Politics
| OK, lets hold on for a minute, let me set the stage: I’m sitting in one of my common hangouts. Back in the corner, I’m listening to the Police Scanner and posting to social media. A group of young people walk in, about 10 or so of them. They take up a couple of tables in the opposite corner. Late teens, early twenties, loud, animated, typical. Except it’s not typical. I’m not sure if there was an Asian present, but this would have been the nearly perfect intersectional cross of skin pigmentation and origin assumptions. I ignored them at first; they seemed to be having a good time. Then it hit me: Holy SHIT! They really exist! It’s the Fraternity Lambda Lambda Lambda from Revenge Of The Nerds! And if they noticed me at all, they probably blew me off as being Ogre, the big dumb jock (lol). There is Gilbert, and Arnold Poindexter, and Booger Dawson and ‘Little Ole’ Lamar Latrell, and Harold Wormser is now 5 foot 3, And of the 10 or so, one of them was a female (that we know of). And if they ever stumble across this op-ed, its probably going to ruin their academic careers at Washburn faster than The Alpha-Betas unleashing a herd of pigs into their Frat House. It was a bit disconcerting at first as I was sitting there researching and looking up executive orders and finding sources for The Heritage Foundation’s plans and the pile of Executive Orders that they got Trump to auto-pen for them. As I entered words like “LGBTQ Executive Order” into the search bar, I would hear the words “Gay!” and “Trump!” from the Tri-Lambs. I shook my head and blew off the coincidence and entered the words “DEI Trump Policy” and hit return, and the words “Republican!” and “Gay! Still!” came from the cacophony of the Tri-Lams. I looked over at them, wondering if they could somehow see my screen. Nope, not possible. And as I typed in “Conservative christian Trump promises” immediately, faster than Google could return I hear “But I’m GAY and Republican! But I was raised Methodist!” and “Meritocracy!”. OK, these kids are fucking with me…. No they weren’t. But they were pretty much discussing exactly what I was writing about. And what really impressed me was that they were having an energetic, loud discussion in which several of them strongly disagreed with each other but…..But this is TOPEKA. And no one was brandishing a weapon or throwing fists. WEIRD! A political discussion in a greasy spoon at 3:00 AM and no one was standing on the table screaming and threatening anyone with a butter knife? This is very different. I started to tune into them more without being too obvious. Yes: It was true, a racially diverse group of young adults, one bigger and jockish, one smaller and demure, one OBVIOUSLY Gay, as he announced it many times, but following it up with “I’m a republican too!”. Ok we get it, weirdo. I wanted so bad to go over and insert myself into their discussion, but for as cool as these kids seemed, they probably wouldn’t have liked that: I was the Ogre, the old troll in the corner, I’m OK with that. I sat in amazement as these kids confronted each other with their disagreements. The lone female at one point getting up to confront the Gay Republican, but it wasn’t with a knife or gun, they actually talked POLICY! And they listened to each other before coming back with rational (sic) rebuttals. It was a thing of beauty. I thought maybe I had fallen asleep in my booth and was dreaming this. This is not reality. Or maybe I just spend way too much time arguing with MAGA troll idiots on Facebook with the intellects of gnats? Eventually, the Tri-Lambs finished their meals and got up and started taking turns in the bathroom and digging out their wallets to pay their bills. A couple of them noticed me staring at them in disbelief. I was thinking that this was very different than the typical groups of good old boys with their obvious concealed carrys and the hood rats or 3rd shifters. “We sorry, I know we’re loud, hope we didn’t bother you.” one of them said to me. “Oh NO! I’ve been quite entertained with eavesdropping on your conversation!” I told them. They laughed nervously. And I added “I’m still confused by the Gay Republican though. And the skinny twink looked over at me and said “Yes, thats me, Im gay and I am republican”. He was right out there with it. I respect that. Admitting to both your greatest asset and deepest liability in one breath. I told them that I had been writing an article along the same lines as what they had been discussing. I showed them my webpage and they seemed to take notice and write down the URL. I did not ask for the Gay Republican Twink’s onlyfans, he really wasn’t that cute. Just statistically my type. I half jokingly suggested that he get therapy, he half jokingly agreed. And then they all left. I really wanted to enjoin in their repartee’ I wanted to find out if this Gay Republican really had any sort of clue about just how badly the MAGA Cult and Republican party wants to grind his soul under their jack boots. Somehow he had the wherewithal to be OUT and OPEN with his sexuality, and he said that he was a “Poly-Sci” student. (First year I’m sure, 1 semester in) In one moment, I felt really bad for him, in the next I wanted to MAKE him feel really bad, but I’m getting soft in my geezerhood, and I recognized that this twink has a lot of knots to untie, to put it feintly. I got a Dyllan Roof vibe from him, not really a Tyler Robinson, but more of a Robin Westman, Or Edward Lewis kind of vibe. (Go ahead and google, meet me back here…..) From the little bit I had gathered from him and his friends, I got the feeling that this kid could go in one of two very different directions. And it could be *very* bad. But what he has going for him is that he has a group of decent, smart, funny, open minded friends. His fraternity. And I am sure that there are other members of that frat, not present tonight, who would urge and coax him into the worst sorts of MAGA republicanism. I hope he has the good sense to steer away from them, no matter how easy and comfortable that chickenshit route is. The group he was with at the Greasy Spoon might have seemed exasperated with him by the end of the feast, I am sure he was NOT the only Gay in that group. But it was like witnessing a UFO landing in an arc of rainbows and a unicorn trotting out singing songs from “South Pacific!” (“You’ve got to be taught!” Look it up nerds) to see a group of young people that diverse, that intelligent, and that able to have a semi-civilized and animated discussion of those hot-button issues. *And nobody is wasting nobody* Ooops, wrong movie, wrong decade…. There is hope for the future, even in Topeka, the city that Time Magazine called “The Epicenter Of Hate”. If it comes to a choice between Alpha-Betas and Nerds, Be a Nerd. They actually know that “Alpha and Beta” are not the apex. Tri-Lambs Forever! Now go find a Takashi Toshiro But read the rest of this. |
Step 2: Pretend the Blueprint Doesn’t Exist
Project 2025 is not a secret.
It’s a 900-page PDF available on the Heritage Foundation’s website.
It reads like a dystopian fanfic written by someone who thinks diversity is a communist plot.
It calls for:
- Eliminating DEI
- Restricting LGBTQ rights
- Expanding policing
- Shrinking civil-rights enforcement
- Replacing science-based agencies with ideological ones
- Imposing a specific religious worldview
To support the executive orders derived from this blueprint, you must pretend the document is:
- A rumor
- A liberal hallucination
- A bedtime story
- A deepfake
- A PDF that spontaneously generated itself in the cloud
This is not denial.
This is denial with a subscription plan.
Step 3: Believe You’re the Exception
This is a classic move.
You tell yourself: “Sure, they’re rolling back protections for people like me, but I’m not like those people.”
You believe:
- You’re “one of the good ones”
- You “earned your spot”
- You “don’t play the victim”
- You “don’t need government handouts”
- You “don’t need DEI to succeed”
- You “don’t need LGBTQ protections because you’re not that kind of gay”
This is the political equivalent of thinking the velociraptor won’t eat you because you said “please.”
Step 4: Outsource the Harm
Another strategy: convince yourself the executive orders only hurt other people.
- “I’m not trans, so the gender-affirming care restrictions don’t affect me.”
- “I’m not undocumented, so the immigration raids won’t touch me.”
- “I’m not poor, so the housing cuts won’t matter.”
- “I’m not in a high-policing zone, so the civil-rights rollback won’t reach me.”
This is how you end up cheering for policies that will eventually circle back to you like a boomerang with a grudge.
Step 5: Blame the Victims
To really commit, you must believe that the people harmed by these executive orders somehow deserve it.
You’ll say:
- “They should’ve followed the law.”
- “They’re just playing identity politics.”
- “They’re too sensitive.”
- “They’re trying to cancel tradition.”
- “They’re ruining America.”
This is not just victim-blaming.
This is victim-blaming with a loyalty badge.
Step 6: Worship the Strongman
Project 2025 executive orders are designed to centralize power, dismantle checks and balances, and impose a rigid ideological framework.
To support them, you must believe that:
- Democracy is overrated
- Civil rights are optional
- Bodily autonomy is negotiable
- Religious supremacy is freedom
- Diversity is chaos
- Equity is theft
This is not patriotism.
This is Stockholm Syndrome with a flag pin.
Step 7: Call It Pragmatism
When all else fails, you’ll say:
“I’m voting for the economy.”
This is the Swiss Army Knife of political self-deception.
It lets you ignore:
- LGBTQ rollbacks
- DEI elimination
- Immigration raids
- Housing freezes
- Civil-rights erosion
- Religious supremacy
…because gas is 30 cents cheaper.
This is the political equivalent of burning down your house because you found a coupon for a new one.
Final Thought: The Blueprint Is Real. The Harm Is Real. The Delusion Is Optional.
Supporting Project 2025 executive orders while being LGBTQ or a person of color is not just a contradiction.
It’s a performance art piece in self-erasure.
It’s not strategy.
It’s not loyalty.
It’s not pragmatism.
It’s survival by pretending you’re not in the blast radius.
And the saddest part?
The people doing these mental gymnastics aren’t villains.
They’re people who’ve been told — over and over — that their safety, dignity, and rights are negotiable.
But here’s the thing about gymnastics:
Eventually, you fall.
And Project 2025 isn’t offering a safety mat.
Further Reading
A curated set of reporting, analysis, and commentary that explores the dynamics of marginalized voters, political self‑betrayal, democratic erasure, and policies that disproportionately harm LGBTQ and Black communities.
Self‑censorship and the ‘spiral of silence’ — The Conversation
How social pressure shapes political identity and why people silence themselves in hostile environments.
(www.theconversation.com/spiral-of-silence-self-censorship)
Op‑Ed: Democrats must humanize marginalized voices — The Advocate
A look at how political abandonment and identity pressure distort voter alignment.
(www.advocate.com/politics/humanize-marginalized-voices)
Black people are being erased from democracy — TheGrio
An examination of systemic voter erasure and its impact on Black and Latino communities.
(www.thegrio.com/erasure-of-black-voters)
The Impact of Voter Purging on Marginalized Communities — Forward Pathway
A breakdown of how voter roll purges disproportionately target underrepresented groups.
(www.forwardpathway.org/voter-purging-impact)
Voting in America Is Still Secure — A Dark Anti‑Election Movement Seeks to Change That — Brennan Center
Analysis of coordinated efforts to undermine voting rights and democratic participation.
(www.brennancenter.org/anti-election-movement-analysis)
MAGA voters are willing to suffer, as long as they can watch others suffer more — The Hill
A psychological exploration of voters supporting policies that harm their own interests.
(www.thehill.com/opinion/maga-voters-suffering)
Trump’s Policies Threaten Rights and Dignity of Marginalized Groups — Davis Vanguard
A detailed look at how specific policies disproportionately harm marginalized communities.
(www.davisvanguard.org/trump-policies-marginalized-groups)
Op‑Ed: Voter Suppression & How Black Organizations Are Combatting It — National Urban League
A review of modern suppression tactics and the grassroots efforts resisting them.
(www.nul.org/opinion/voter-suppression-black-organizations)
How Policies Target Marginalized Communities — MIRA Coalition
A clear breakdown of how recent policy shifts erode civil rights protection
This article is connected to newer related coverage and supporting context below.
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