Sen. McCain — If Not Now, When?

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Artists and theater groups are challenging a new certification requirement and funding prohibition that the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has imposed on grant applications. The NEA now requires applicants to attest that they will not “promote gender ideology” in order to be eligible for funding and blocks any projects that reasonably appear to “promote gender ideology” from getting an award. The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Rhode Island, David Cole, and Lynette Labinger, cooperating counsel for the ACLU-RI, filed the suit in the U.S. District Court of Rhode Island on behalf of Rhode Island Latino Arts (RILA); National Queer Theater (NQT); The Theater Offensive (TTO); and the Theatre Communications Group (TCG). The suit argues that the new certification requirement and funding prohibition violate the First Amendment, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the Fifth Amendment. The ACLU is asking for a preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order before the grant application deadline on March 24. “This gag on artists' speech has had a ripple effect across the entire art world, from Broadway to community arts centers,” said Vera Eidelman, senior staff attorney at the ACLU. “Grants from the NEA are supposed to be about one thing: artistic excellence. Blocking eligibility for artists because they express a message the government doesn’t like runs directly counter to the NEA’s purpose, the First Amendment’s prohibition on viewpoint-based regulation, and the role of art in our society.” In January 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that directs that “[f]ederal funds shall not be used to promote gender ideology.” "The arts are foundational to Providence and to Rhode Island at large,” said Steven Brown, executive director of the ACLU of Rhode Island. “Requiring artists to sign a loyalty oath in exchange for funding is not what Congress intended for the endowment, nor is it in line with the First Amendment. We will continue to fight for the freedom of all artists to experiment and push boundaries, because we deserve a cultural sphere that is as diverse and as vibrant as our communities are.” Rhode Island Latino Arts is a nonprofit organization that celebrates and supports visual art, music, theater, and more from the Latino community. It planned to apply for NEA funding for either a production of “Faust,” for which it considered casting a nonbinary actor, or a storytelling program, previous iterations of which included discussions of LGBTQ topics. Due to the requirement, RILA is changing its project to ensure it does not run afoul of the certification and prohibition. “Artistic expression is a fundamental right,” said Marta V. Martinez, executive director of Rhode Island Latino Arts. “Our communities deserve to see art that reflects their experiences, and that challenges them to consider something new. All of our projects are designed to welcome and celebrate a diverse array of identities and experiences, especially those of recent immigrants and those from the Latinx and LGBTQ+ communities. That is the principle RILA was founded on, and we can’t be bullied into compromising our values.” National Queer Theater is a New York based theater collective that celebrates LGBTQ theater artists. They intend to apply for funding for the Criminal Queerness Festival, a theater festival featuring work from playwrights from countries where queerness is illegal or dangerous, which they have hosted since 2019. “We created Criminal Queerness to give a home to writers who face criminalization or censorship in their own country,” said Adam Odsess-Rubin, founding artistic director of National Queer Theater. “It is a cruel irony that we may now be ineligible for funding because our so-called ‘gender ideology’ is being targeted by the U.S. government. These new requirements threaten the expression of not just our organization, but artists around the world whose identities have been criminalized.” The Theater Offensive is a Boston-based theater company with a mission to present liberating art by, for, and about queer and trans people of color. It is applying for funding for an original play entitled “Smoke,” set against the backdrop of 1960s Washington, D.C. “Smoke” explores love, found family, motherhood, and healing and reveals the complexities of trans life at a turning point in the fight for their human rights. “There is no theater community without the immense contributions of queer trans artists,” said Giselle Byrd, executive director of The Theater Offensive. “This pledge from the NEA further attacks the rights and dignity of trans and nonbinary people, silencing our voices at a time when they are most needed. The power and purpose of art is to make us feel, to force us to think, to challenge our worldview, and to connect with people who are different from us. Censoring art means censoring what makes us human.” Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, serves over 600 member theatres and affiliate organizations, as well as more than 3,500 individual members. TCG reaches over one million theatre professionals, students, and audience members each year through its programs and services. Many of TCG's member theatres across the country rely on federal funding to sustain their work. "Theatre is a vital tool for connecting us across identities and experiences," said Emilya Cachapero, co-executive director of National and Global Programming at TCG. "TCG stands in full support of the NEA’s mission to create art that sustains, strengthens and nurtures the diverse fabric of our country. However, efforts to block theatres from receiving NEA funding are a direct attempt to stifle artistic expression and undermine the essential role theatre plays in American society." Today's filing can be found here: https://www.aclu.org/cases/rhode-island-latino-arts-v-national-endowment-for-the-arts?document=Complaint

BALTIMORE – In a victory for transgender people and their families, a federal judge has granted a request for a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of President Donald Trump’s executive orders threatening federal funding for providers of gender-affirming medical care for people under 19. The preliminary injunction extends a temporary restraining order that was previously entered in the case and was set to expire March 5. “Again, the court has ruled to ensure hospitals, doctors, and healthcare professionals in our communities can continue the work to keep our families healthy. Transgender people and their supportive parents and families are good and decent people who deserve the freedom to be themselves and to thrive. PFLAG National and our vast network of chapters, members and supporters will continue to ensure that love leads in this fight for justice for transgender people,” said Brian K. Bond (he/him), Chief Executive Officer of PFLAG National. “Today’s ruling is a crucial step in resisting the extremist agenda of the Trump administration and reaffirming that trans and non-binary people deserve dignity, respect, and access to the health care they need. This administration has tried to bully providers into abandoning their ethical obligations, but we will not back down. We will continue to fight for health professionals' freedom to do their jobs based on medical expertise—not political ideology—and for the right of every patient to receive care free from discrimination and fear,” said Alex Sheldon (they/them), Executive Director of GLMA. “Today’s decision provides relief to transgender young people, their families, and their medical providers who have been thrown into chaos by this administration,” said Joshua Block, Senior Staff Attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project. “This order from President Trump is a direct effort to threaten the well-being of transgender people while denying them equal protection under the law, enacted by coercing doctors to follow Trump’s own ideology rather than their best medical judgment. As Judge Hurson has said himself, it is hard to fathom a form of discrimination more nefarious than that which pretends the group of people being targeted doesn’t even exist.” “The court’s decision stopping implementation of these perverse and discriminatory executive orders targeting gender-affirming medical care removes a pall of confusion that affected medical institutions across the country and that threatened transgender young people, their families, and the medical professionals who care for them,” said Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, Senior Counsel and Health Care Strategist at Lambda Legal. “With this decision, doctors and hospitals across the country can continue to provide evidence-based, essential, and often lifesaving gender-affirming medical care to transgender people under 19 without fear of retribution.” On Jan. 28, the president signed an executive order declaring that it is the policy of the United States not to “fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support” gender transition for people under 19, which includes 18-year-olds who are legal adults in the states where they reside. The mandates in the order specifically focus on gender-affirming medical care, including hormones and puberty blockers. The order cross-references the definitions and other directives in a separate executive order signed by President Trump on Jan. 20, requiring discrimination against transgender people across much of the federal government and barring federal funding for entities that promote so-called “gender ideology.” In the first week after the order was signed, some hospitals across the country — in Massachusetts, New York, Washington, Colorado, and Virginia at least — abruptly halted medical care for transgender people under age 19, canceling appointments and turning away patients, including some who had been receiving this care for most of their life. This prompted protests of support for transgender youth and in opposition to the order nationwide. On Feb. 4, a lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal on behalf of transgender young adults and adolescents and their families whose health care has been disrupted by President Trump’s order. Also joining the case as plaintiffs are PFLAG National, the nation’s largest organization supporting LGBTQ+ people and their families, with over 550,000 members and supporters and nearly 350 chapters across the country; and GLMA, the country’s largest organization of LGBTQ and allied health professionals. On Feb. 11, the federal judge presiding over the case in Baltimore issued a 14-day temporary restraining order prohibiting federal agencies from conditioning or withholding federal funding based on the fact that a healthcare entity or health professional provides gender-affirming medical care to a patient under nineteen. Many providers who had previously suspended care announced they would resume care under the judge’s order. On Feb. 26, the court extended the restraining order for another week until Wednesday, March 5. The preliminary injunction issued today continues that pause in enforcement while the case proceeds. The decision from the court can be found here and the order can be found here.

WASHINGTON - The Senate today rejected a bill attempting to amend a landmark civil rights law to exclude transgender students from nondiscrimination protections. S. 9, a version of which passed by a slim majority in the House of Representatives in January, would prohibit any school athletics program receiving federal funding from allowing transgender women and girls to participate in athletics programs designated for women and girls. The bill seeks to narrow the range of sex discrimination prohibited by laws like Title IX by defining sex “solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” “As anyone paying attention to the actions of the Trump administration can tell you, this bill is simply one part of a sweeping effort to push transgender people out of public life altogether,” said Mike Zamore, National Director of Policy & Government Affairs at the ACLU. “We need more attention on actually ensuring fair and equal opportunity for all girls and women, not inflicting invasive and humiliating checks and bullying on kids to serve adults’ political purposes. We are thankful to the senators who rejected this ugly effort to codify discrimination within a historic civil rights law, and we will always fight for the freedom of all young people to be themselves at school, including on the playing field.” Federal courts have consistently found in favor of transgender student-athletes challenging state-level bans on their equal participation consistent with their gender identity, and others have likewise rejected claims that the participation of transgender student-athletes unjustly denies opportunities to cisgender women and girls.

The Trump administration is attempting to push its political ideals and conservative agenda on students and restrict access to a diverse and inclusive education. Students are speaking out about how harmful these unlawful practices are.