Trump admin forced to restore $6.2 million to LGBTQ+ and HIV groups

The federal government has been forced to restore $6.2 million in funding to LGBTQ+ and HIV organizations.

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The move comes after a court victory for nine organizations represented by Lambda Legal. They are the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, Los Angeles LGBT Center, GLBT Historical Society, San Francisco Community Health Center, Prisma Community Care in Arizona, NYC LGBT Community Center, Bradbury-Sullivan Community Center in Pennsylvania, Baltimore Safe Haven, and FORGE in Wisconsin. They filed suit against the Trump administration in February in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, and their case was heard in May.

Judge Jon S. Tigar ruled June 9 that the groups were likely to succeed in showing that multiple provisions of two of Donald Trump’s executive orders against diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and an anti-transgender executive order are unconstitutional.

Under the orders, the groups would have been denied funds for any equity-related grants or contracts and programs that “promote” what the administration calls “gender ideology.” Tigar therefore issued a preliminary injunction blocking the enforcement of these provisions while the lawsuit proceeds.

While the administration has been known to disobey court orders, Lambda Legal announced Tuesday that in light of Tigar’s ruling, the funds have been restored.

“We have confirmed that our plaintiffs — LGBTQ+ organizations providing critical services to their communities — have seen their threatened funding restored,” Jose Abrigo, senior attorney and HIV project director at Lambda Legal, said in a press release. “When we fight, we win. We know the battle is far from over and there will be setbacks along the way, but the cause is too important, and the need too great, for us to lose heart.”

If implemented, the Trump orders would severely harm nonprofit organizations’ ability to provide HIV treatment and prevention, sexual and reproductive health screenings and services, youth programs, homelessness prevention, mental health, employment, and many other services.

In granting the injunction, the court held that Lambda Legal’s plaintiffs and the transgender people they serve will likely succeed in demonstrating that the executive orders violate their rights to equal protection, free speech, and due process, and that the orders likely violate the Separation of Powers.

“These three funding provisions reflect an effort to censor constitutionally protected speech and services promoting DEI and recognizing the existence of transgender individuals,” Tigar wrote. “These provisions seek to strip funding from programs that serve historically disenfranchised populations in direct contravention of several statutes under which Plaintiffs receive funding. Plaintiffs have therefore demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits that these provisions violate their rights under the First Amendment, Fifth Amendment, and the Separation of Powers.”

“While the Executive requires some degree of freedom to implement its political agenda, it is still bound by the Constitution,” Tigar continued. “And even in the context of federal subsidies, it cannot weaponize Congressionally appropriated funds to single out protected communities for disfavored treatment or suppress ideas that it does not like or has deemed dangerous. It further cannot do so in such a vague manner that all federal grantees and contractors are left to wonder what activities or expression they can engage in without risking the funding on which they depend.

“Absent injunctive relief, Plaintiffs face the imminent loss of federal funding critical to their ability to provide lifesaving healthcare and support services to marginalized LGBTQ populations. This loss not only threatens the survival of critical programs but also forces Plaintiffs to choose between their constitutional rights and their continued existence.”