We begin tonight with a shake-up in South Carolina politics that’s raising alarm bells for LGBTQ Americans. Paul Dans, the man behind the far-right blueprint known as Project 2025, is set to launch a primary challenge against longtime Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. Dans, the former director at the conservative Heritage Foundation, is expected to run for U.S. Senate in 2026.
Now, if you haven’t heard of Project 2025, here’s what’s at stake: the plan seeks to reshape the federal government, stripping away career civil servants, dismantling the Department of Education, ending diversity programs, promoting “fertility awareness” over contraception, limiting abortion, and rolling back queer rights. Dans left the Heritage Foundation just before the 2024 election, with Foundation president Kevin Roberts saying Dans would be “moving up to the front where the fight remains.”
Graham, who has served since 2003, once called Donald Trump “a kook” and “a bigot,” before becoming one of his most loyal defenders. He has consistently voted against LGBTQ protections, even as rumors persist about his personal life with male sex workers alleging he goes by the name “Lady G.” Graham has been a reliable MAGA and Trump supporter but Queer activists suggest that targeting Graham is proof that the Heritage Foundation wants even more. The question has now been raised: Will South Carolina’s Senate race become the next battleground for queer rights in America?
