New England arts groups sue the NEA
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'This is what the ancestors and the transcestors fought for,' she said. 'And it's now our torch to carry so we have to whether we are ready for it or not, we have to answer the call.'
The NEA, on Feb. 6, just ahead of the deadline to apply for 2026 Grants for Arts Projects, changed applicant rules, directly targeting DEI and gender ideology. We're using this term because it's what the executive order and NEA are touting. We want readers to know 'gender ideology' is used with hateful intention to assert that LGBTQ+, specifically trans, nonbinary, and gender expansive folk do not have natural identities and are an ideological movement.
There is now
a literal box applicants have to check asserting they will not not promote gender ideology. Plainly, they are attempting to mandate that we deny the existence of trans, nonbinary, and gender expansive folk.
'This is a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, the First Amendment, and the Fifth Amendment, so those are the grounds which this lawsuit has been built upon,' Byrd says. 'This is not what Congress intended when they created the NEA.
Kenny Mascary, chief of staff for the Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture in Boston, said the arts 'have long served as a powerful catalyst for community organization, civic engagement, and social change.' Artistic expression, he said 'is deeply intertwined with the principles of free speech.'
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'As a MOAC partner,' Mascary said, 'we support TTO through their creative works as they bring to life the values, experiences, and diverse perspectives that define our community. By fostering this kind of artistic freedom, we not only uplift voices but also strengthen the social and economic fabric of our city.'
What does it mean when we cower to executive orders that deny the personhood of some people? Who are we when we allow ourselves to be complicit in human erasure and lies masquerading as protections? Democracy and freedom should never be disposable.
Mercedes Loving-Manley, founder of
'A good portion of the grant funding we receive, is particularly for arts and culture, to foster space for joy, connection, learning, and preserving our historical record. The upside is times like this bring people a bit closer together. Our intention is to act with urgency 24/7; it is the foundation of our work, and in times like these our work is heightened. We are big on collaboration. We are stronger together.'
Even for artists and organizations who don't receive federal funding, the NEA and Trump's orders are startling. What the ACLU and groups like TTO and Rhode Island Latino Arts are doing is essential to how we move forward.
Jean's Soup Joumou
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Jean Dolin, founder of Boston LGBTQ+ Museum of Art, History and Culture on his journey to protecting and uplifting Black and Queer joy and representation.
Jean Dolin, founder of the
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'The number one rule of the arts is to say something about the human experience. The arts really bear witness to human lives, how we experience it, how we love, how we fail. The arts are a tool for everyone and that's why it has to be diverse. The United States and the world is a diverse place.'
The
'We work with artists who have relied on that funding and will be affected,' he said. 'We have a responsibility right now, especially the LGB to show up for the T, the trans community. They are under-resourced, under-funded, and under-amplified. We have to help, through finance, through visibility, through community to help them get ahead in the workplace, in community, in the art space. We have to take a holistic look at our role.'
What the NEA has done could derail productions for theaters across the nation who have historically counted on that funding. Groups like TTO received some $150,000 in NEA COVID relief and programming grants and were intending to apply in support of a play they are putting on next year.
These hurdles aren't exclusive to the queer community. The NEA also issued DEI restrictions and
Byrd says the DEI-specific part of the new guidelines isn't in the lawsuit because other organizations have taken up the fight to block those violations already.
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Still, much like Trump's Kennedy Center takeover, the executive orders around diversity and gender ideology will have a domino effect of chipping away at everyone's constitutional rights and artistic freedom.
John F. Kennedy himself knew, as a country, we should always protect creative liberty.
'I see little of more importance to the future of our country and our civilization than full recognition of the place of the artist,' he said in
Both Dolin and Byrd pointed to the fact that trans folk, queer folk, gender expansive and nonbinary people have always existed with or without the laws or the language. In the arts, we can look to Shakespeare – or Christopher Marlowe - and be reminded of the men in drag playing femme-identifying characters.
'In a world in which we censor and erase trans, nonbinary, and gender expansive people, we create a world that is devoid of truth,' Byrd said. 'We have, for centuries on end, existed and will continue to do so.'
Donald Trump, earlier this week, proclaimed this nation would be its best most free self under his leadership. Byrd is counting on it.
'When Trump said we would forge 'the freest, most advanced, most dynamic and most dominant civilization ever to exist on the face of this Earth,' well if that is what he decrees, who are we not to comply on our own terms?'
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Artists, now is your time. Forge freedom. Forge it fiercely. Your president commands it.
Jeneé Osterheldt can be reached at
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