What Project 2025 (potentially) Means for the Pole Industry

We are not saying Project 2025 is President-elect Trump’s agenda nor that it will be carried out as written. We are encouraging everyone to stay engaged and informed whether pole is your hobby, your side hustle, or your full-time gig.

 

Project 2025 was authored by The Heritage Foundation.

The opening pages remind the reader of The Heritage Foundation’s past:

“In the winter of 1980, the fledging Heritage Foundation handed to President-elect Ronald Reagan the inaugural Mandate for Leadership. This collective work by conservative thought leaders and former government hands—most of whom were not part of Heritage—set out policy prescriptions, agency by agency for the incoming President. The book literally put the conservative movement and Reagan on the same page, and the revolution that followed might never have been, save for this band of committed and volunteer activists. With this volume, we have gone back to the future—and then some.”

The Heritage Foundation hopes to repeat history here, handing President-elect Trump this document and getting him and the conservative movement on the same page.

In the days since we started writing this post, President-elect Trump has named several Project 2025 authors to his cabinet.

This post is broken down into several different parts. Some parts may be more or less relevant to you and your business and/or your customers.

The pole industry, more than many other industries, is led by and comprised of many marginalized groups who may be directly impacted by these proposed changes.

How Does This Relate to Pole? Part 1: P0rnography

Project 2025 seeks to outlaw p0rnography.

If you think this doesn’t apply to you—check your Instagram history.

How many times have you been shadow banned because your pole shorts were too short? Or your outfit was skin tone even if you are a “sport” poler? Or you used a banned hashtag because you’re a pole dancer.

This document hides behind outdated, puritanical ideals stating: “[P0rn’s] It’s purveyors are child predators and misogynistic exploiters of women.” This document seeks to control feminine bodies and the outlawing of p0rnography will certainly find its way to negatively impacting your pole practice.

Even if you don’t see the connection between p0rn and pole dance, pole has and will always be intertwined with sw.

How Does This Relate to Pole? Part 2: Abortion

The authors also celebrate the Dobbs decision, better known as the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

The abortion bans in conservative states are a threat to the health of anyone with a uterus. The treatment for several ailments, including ectopic pregnancy, holoprosencephaly, and placental abruption is abortion.

A study from Tulane University shows there is a higher rate of maternal mortality in states with more restrictive on abortion access. The Dobbs decision is a terrible decision for “strong families” as it actively puts mothers at risk. And if you have a potentially active uterus, it puts you at risk too.

The authors aren’t just targeting abortion rights in the United States—they are targeting the right to abortion everywhere. Under the guise of reigning in spending on foreign aid, the authors of want to ban abortion access in US-funded global aid, with no exception for rape or to save the life of the mother.

This should be protected by the Hyde Amendment, which the authors say has been blatantly ignored and abused; however, they do not cite any sources to prove the claim that the Hyde Amendment has been ignored or abused.

This document includes a lot of strong, biased language trying to frame removal of abortion rights as protecting women and girls. Further, they want to end any research done on abortion-derived fetal tissue, which will impact the medical and research communities.

How Does This Relate to Pole? Part 3: LGBTQIAA+

The authors take aim at LGBTQIAA+, especially trans persons.

The author’s claim: “Social science reports that assess the objective outcomes for children raised in homes aside from a heterosexual, intact marriage are clear: All other family forms involve higher levels of instability (the average length of same-sex marriages is half that of heterosexual marriages)” (pg 481).

However, they don’t cite these studies and they fail to acknowledge that same-sex marriage has only been legal in the US for less than 10 years, versus the 200+ years marriage has been legal in the US, which certainly skews the data.

The authors seek to have the President immediately revoke Executive Order 14020 (EO 14020) including all the work and research done on behalf of EO 14020. If you haven’t read EO 14020, follow the link above.

The TL;DR of EO 14020 is the government recognizing that women and girls are a massively underserved community and adjustments need to be made. EO 14020 establishes a working group to statistically and scientifically identify where women and girls are being held back and provide solutions for better equity and equality for women and girls. (Yes, we are using very binary language, and we see all of you who are in between or not on the binary, but this is the language of the EO).

Overturning EO 14020 and destroying all research is reminiscent of the Nazis burning all research done on transgenderism during WWII.

Authors also state “HRSA should withdraw all guidance encouraging Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program service providers to provide controversial “gender transition” procedures or “gender-affirming care,” which cause irreversible physical and mental harm to those who receive them.” (Pg 485). This, once again, has no citation; likely because these types of studies either haven’t been conducted or the results are the opposite of the Heritage Foundation’s claims.

How Does This Relate to Pole? Part 4: “Protections” for children

Authors seek to erase the non-binary identity for both adults and children.

Using Title IX (related to school opportunity and school/youth sports), authors claim non-binary athletes and assigned male at birth (AMAB) athletes who have transitioned to female are a threat to girls’ and women’s sports. Authors make no similar claims about assigned female at birth (AFAB) athletes competing in boys’ or men’s sports.

The authors also seek to villainize anywhere that makes itself a safe place for trans youth. They seek to ban a school from allowing a child to transition socially if the parents do not allow it. They also want to require public educators to use the name on a student’s birth certificate unless they have the explicit permission of the child’s parents. If “Johnathon” wants to go by “John,” the education system would need a signed decree from their parents.

How Does This Relate to Pole? Part 5: Diversity Equity and Inclusion

There are multiple points throughout the text where the authors claim anything regarding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is racist.

The authors also state that “[t[he President should direct agencies to rescind regulations interpreting sex discrimination provisions as prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, transgender status, sex characteristics” (pg 584).

This removes all protections for women, LGBTQIAA+, and BIPOC. Authors not only want to eliminate DEI, but they also want to use participation in DEI initiatives as grounds for termination from government positions (page 708).

Conclusion

There are many other parts of this document that we have not addressed, focusing instead of things that could have the most impact on people in the pole industry.

As mentioned previously, this is not the President-elect’s stated agenda however, from the election to now, many authors of this document have already been picked for cabinet posts. Trump was also just quoted in Newsweek for praising (at least parts) of the document:

“Donald Trump has publicly praised Project 2025, calling parts of the policy agenda ‘very conservative and very good.’

During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump distanced himself from the initiative. He called parts of the 900-page guideline spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation ‘ridiculous and abysmal.’

…Speaking to the [Time] magazine [after the election], Trump softened his tone on the policy document. Though he continued to distance himself from Project 2025, Trump praised some of its ideas.”

As of now, we have no idea what 2025 and beyond will hold.

All members of this industry, many of whom are also members of marginalized groups and/or serve marginalized groups through their businesses, should stay aware and vigilant of potential negative changes on the local, state, and federal level.

We have shared some ways to support and be involved in this post.