More than $6 million in federal funding for nine non-profit organizations serving LGBTQ people and individuals living with HIV — including New York’s LGBT Community center — has been reinstated for now after Lambda Legal spearheaded a lawsuit targeting three of the president’s executive orders.
The case of San Francisco AIDS Foundation v. Trump originated in February when the nine organizations, represented by Lambda Legal, filed the federal lawsuit challenging three executive orders signed early in President Donald Trump’s term: “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,” and “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.”
In early June, the US District Court for the Northern District of California granted a preliminary injunction against several provisions of the three executive orders.
Following the executive orders, federal agencies told non-profits that funding would be cut at organizations serving transgender individuals or carrying out “equity-related” work, Lambda Legal said when the lawsuit was first filed.
Lambda Legal announced on July 15 that the $6.2 million in funding had been restored. Now, the organizations involved in the suit — including New York’s LGBT Center — will be able to continue operating with the federal funds. Other organizations involved in the suit include the Bradbury-Sullivan Community Center in Pennsylvania, Baltimore Safe Haven in Maryland, FORGE in Wisconsin, and Prisma Community Care in Arizona.
The victory is only temporary as the case continues to proceed. But Lambda Legal is, at least for now, welcoming the restoration of funds.
“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 written statement. “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.”
The initial lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California and argued that the executive orders violate free speech under the First Amendment as well as the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause and the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. The suit further accused the Trump administration of violating the Administrative Procedures Act.
