LGBTQ+ researchers sue Trump administration over grant terminations
BALTIMORE — An association of LGBTQ+ and allied health professionals sued the Trump administration last week on behalf of researchers whose funding related to LGBTQ+ health issues was terminated.
GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ+ Equality filed the suit against the National Institutes of Health and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on May 20 in the U.S. District Court of Maryland, in an attempt to block the termination of hundreds of grants dedicated to researching the health of LGBTQ+ Americans.
The plaintiffs listed in the complaint are among those who lost a combined $800 million in research funding after executive orders penned by President Donald Trump sought to terminate federal funding for grants related to 'gender ideology' and 'diversity, equity, and inclusion.'
'The goal is ultimately to turn back the clock to before these discriminatory priorities were put into action,' says Pelecanos, who is the Renberg Fellow at Lambda Legal, representing GLMA in the suit.
In February, the NIH issued a memorandum in which it stated that it would remain consistent with Trump's executive orders, and no longer support 'studies based on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and gender identity.'
Dr. Sarah Peitzmeier, one of the named plaintiffs in the suit, is an assistant professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Health who has received multiple NIH research grants.
According to the complaint, NIH in March terminated a grant under which Peitzmeier was researching intimate partner violence, asserting that the research was connected to DEI.
Peitzmeier, who is originally from Silver Spring, requested to transfer one of her other research grants, regarding HIV and violence prevention for transgender women of color, to her new institution at UMD from the University of Michigan, where she was researching at the time.
She told The Baltimore Sun that this grant made up over three quarters of her salary, but was effectively blocked by the NIH after the agency stopped responding to her messages, and stalled any further payments.
'I was really excited to move back to Maryland this year and set up my research agenda here to make an impact in the state of Maryland, as well as nationally,' said Peitzmeier, who made the move but was unable to continue her research.
The NIH did not respond to requests for comment.
_____
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
28 minutes ago
Israel-Iran live updates: Trump rejected Israeli plan to kill Iran's supreme leader, per US officials
The Israeli Police said Sunday there had been "multiple confirmed fatalities." 4:24 Aerial attacks between Israel and Iran continued overnight into Sunday, marking a third day of strikes following Israel's Friday attack. That surprise strike hit the heart of the Iran's nuclear program, killing several nuclear scientists as well as high-ranking military leaders, according to Israeli officials. The U.S. did not provide any military assistance or have any involvement in Israel's Friday strike, a U.S. official told ABC News. 60 Updates Jun 13, 2025, 1:06 PM EDT Delta cancels all flights from New York-JFK to Tel Aviv through August Delta Air lines has paused flights to Tel Aviv from New York-JFK through August 31 in response to the ongoing conflict in the region. "Customers impacted by flight cancellations will receive notifications via the Fly Delta app and contact information listed in their reservation as these cancellations are processed in Delta's system and may contact Delta or their travel agent for rebooking options," Delta airlines said in a statement. A travel waiver has been issued for all customers to and from Tel Aviv through Aug. 31. -ABC News' Sam Sweeney Jun 13, 2025, 12:45 PM EDT Israeli attacks in Iran are ongoing Israeli forces' attacks on Iran are ongoing, according to the Israel Defense Forces Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir. "We are continuing with full force and at a high pace in order to meet the goals we have set for ourselves," Zamir said in a statement Friday evening local time. "We are continuing with the two main efforts we set for ourselves – the defensive effort and the offensive effort," Zamir said. "I remind everyone that we are facing a dangerous and complex enemy, and we must maintain a very high level of readiness." -ABC News' Jordana Miller Israel preparing for more possible Iranian retaliation, Netanyahu says The Israeli attack "created a state of chaos in Iran," but Israel needs to assume "there will be an attack against us," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement Friday evening local time. "It could be an attack in very severe waves," Netanyahu said, in a statement made in Hebrew. Israel is preparing for more potential Iranian retaliation, he said. "Citizens of Israel, you need to understand, do not be euphoric," Netanyahu said. "We informed the Americans in advance. They knew about the attack. What the U.S. will do now I leave to the president. Trump makes decisions independently," Netanyahu said. Netanyahu said he targeted Iran's nuclear facilities because "if Iran has nuclear weapons, we won't be able to be here, so that's the first target." Netanyahu said he gave his military the directive to attack Iran after former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in Lebanon in September 2024. Netanyahu originally set the date of the attack for the end of April, but said it was "postponed" for "various reasons." Netanyahu said he wanted to attack Iran twice before but was unable to get a political majority to support the attack. -ABC News' Jordana Miller Jun 13, 2025, 12:17 PM EDT State Dept. warns of missiles, drones or rockets over Iraqi airspace The U.S. Embassy in Iraq is warning Americans of potential missiles, drones or rockets flying over Iraqi airspace, instructing them to "maintain maximum awareness" and seek cover in the event of an incident. This alert is similar to another the State Department pushed out earlier this morning warning embassy personnel to shelter in place, which has since been canceled. The department has also reissued an alert telling Americans not to travel to Iran, but Iran has long been a level 4 country -- meaning Americans should not travel there under any circumstances and the State Department has repeatedly stressed this well in advance of last night's strikes.
USA Today
32 minutes ago
- USA Today
'No Kings' organizers say protests drew large crowds: Here are their estimates
'No Kings' organizers say protests drew large crowds: Here are their estimates Show Caption Hide Caption Millions march in 'No Kings' protests across country Millions marched in cities and towns across the U.S. in "No Kings" protests to rally against the Trump administration. Organizers of the "No Kings" rallies that swept across the nation June 14 said the protests drew large crowds that marched against the Trump administration. The American Civil Liberties Union, a part of the coalition that put on the demonstrations, said in a late Saturday, June 14 statement that more than five million people participated in over 2,100 rallies and protests. Political organizing group Move On, who was a partner in the "No Kings" rallies, echoed the 5 million person estimate in a fundraising email. Jeremy Pressman, the co-director of the Crowd Counting Consortium – a Harvard University and University of Connecticut project that estimates political crowds – told USA TODAY June 15 that it will take "some time" to complete an estimate on the "No Kings" rallies. The Los Angeles Times reported that "tens of thousands" of people demonstrated in the city roiled by Trump's recent immigration enforcement. The New York Post reported that 50,000 people showed up in New York City, where President Donald Trump was born. "Today's protests are a resounding message that people across the nation will not be intimidated by President Trump's fear tactics," ACLU Chief Political & Advocacy Officer Deirdre Schifeling said in the statement. "Americans are brave, democracy loving people and will not sit idly by as the Trump administration feeds our Constitution into the shredder — nor will the ACLU." 'No Kings' protests across US largely peaceful The mostly calm marches, organized under the theme that no individual is above the law, coincided with the day Trump presided over a military parade on the streets of the nation's capital. A demonstration in Northern Virginia, about 70 miles from Washington, D.C., was met with violence when a man intentionally drove an SUV through a crowd of departing protesters, striking at least one person, police said. Police in Los Angeles hit protesters with batons, fired tear gas and ordered a large crowd in downtown to disperse; authorities said they were responding to people throwing "rocks, bricks, bottles," and "fireworks" at officials. In Minnesota, organizers canceled protests across the state out of an abundance of caution after a shooter targeted local lawmakers, killing one and her spouse at their home and injuring another lawmaker and his spouse at their residence. In a statement, the "No Kings" group said it was adhering to guidance from Minnesota State Patrol and Gov. Tim Walz, who urged people not to attend any rallies Saturday. Contributing: N'dea Yancey-Bragg, Sarah D. Wire, Jeanine Santucci, Jonathan Limehouse, Jay Calderon, Brian Day, USA TODAY.
New York Times
42 minutes ago
- New York Times
Deployed to Meet an ‘Invasion,' Marines Were Once Invaders of Mexico
As they have sought to justify sending 700 active-duty U.S. Marines to Los Angeles, President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have described the demonstrators in the city as carrying foreign flags with the intention of continuing an 'invasion' of the United States. To some Angelenos, the notion that their city was being invaded by Mexico might sound like a fantastical twist on the history of U.S.-Mexico military relations. After all, U.S. Marines were among the invaders in the 19th-century war between Mexico and the United States that forced Mexico to give up more than half of its territory — including what is now the state of California. 'Mexican Americans have a saying here, 'They didn't cross the border, the border crossed them,'' said Gaspar Rivera Salgado, director of the Center for Mexican Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. In the historical memory of Mexicans and Mexican Americans, he added, the American invasion is remembered. The year was 1847, and the United States and Mexico were in the middle of a heated conflict that had begun the previous year under President James K. Polk, during an American push for westward expansion and white dominance. American troops landed near the port city of Veracruz on Mexico's eastern coast, alongside the ocean basin that Mr. Trump has sought to rename the Gulf of America. About 12,000 soldiers, including about 400 Marines, unloaded supplies, weapons and horses and laid siege to the city for 20 days, until it fell. The operation gave the American troops a base from which to advance westward to Mexico City. And there, on a cold and foggy morning that September, hundreds of U.S. Marines were among the 7,000 military men who descended on a rundown castle known as Chapultepec. They pushed past the Mexican defenses there with bayonets and cannons, and used ladders to scale the castle's stone walls. Inside, they expected to encounter more Mexican soldiers, but all they found were 132 military cadets. Few Americans today remember the Battle of Chapultepec, but in Mexican children's history books, the bravery of the young men is the stuff of lore. A garrison commander is said to have given the cadets orders to fall back, but six of them did not retreat — they fought bravely to the death. The Battle of Chapultepec let to the capture of Mexico City that essentially ended the war. Five months later, on Feb. 2, 1848, Mexico and the United States signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which carved a jagged new border, nearly 2,000 miles long. That border, modified further by the Gadsden Purchase six years later, became the backdrop for immigration battles past and present. The Marine Corps memorializes the Marines who fell in the Veracruz campaign. On their navy-blue trousers, Marines wear a scarlet stripe in their honor, a symbol of their bravery, and their blood.
