Latest news with #DefendingWomenFromGenderIdeologyExtremismandRestoringBiologicalTruth
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NEA suspends rule after ACLU files lawsuit contesting ‘gender ideology' ban
Lynette Labinger, who is representing four plaintiffs in a suit against the National Endowment for the Arts, is seen with Steven Brown, executive director of the ACLU of Rhode Island, at a press conference on March 6, 2025. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current) Arts organizations applying for grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) don't have to confirm that their potential projects won't 'promote gender ideology' — at least for the time being, while litigation is pending. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Rhode Island announced last Friday evening that its court challenge, filed against the NEA last Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, was at least temporarily successful in suspending an ideological pledge for grant applicants. Prompting the lawsuit in part was that potential grantees would need to tick a box verifying their proposals would not clash with the tenets outlined in an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on his first day in office, titled 'Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.' 'Artists and artist organizations can move forward on preparing and presenting proposals for critically needed NEA grants without being forced to subscribe to a principle that may be contrary to their core beliefs and mission,' Lynette Labinger, the ACLU of RI's cooperating attorney on the case, said in a statement Friday. The NEA policy page which sought to align the agency's funding policy to the executive order has been updated since the lawsuit's announcement to read: 'PLEASE NOTE: Pending the outcome of litigation in the United States District Court of Rhode Island…The NEA is not currently requiring any grantee to make any 'certification' or other representation pursuant to Executive Order 14168.' The four plaintiffs in the suit are Rhode Island Latino Arts, National Queer Theater, The Theater Offensive, and the Theater Communications Group. The groups argued last Thursday that the new rules would force the groups to assert values incompatible with the basic premises of their arts organizations, many of which highlight queer and LGBTQ+ stories. But the ACLU of RI said the NEA has not yet agreed to remove the eligibility criteria for funding, and that projects which are viewed as having unfavorable viewpoints might still not be funded. 'We will continue to seek urgent relief against the NEA's unconstitutional bar on projects that express messages the government doesn't like, but this is a huge step towards initial relief. We won't stop fighting until these new requirements are struck down for good,' Vera Eidelman, senior staff attorney at the ACLU, said in a statement. Eidelman advised organizations that they could still apply for 'Part 1 of the NEA application on March 11 without having to agree to a certification that could have compromised their values or their vision.' Applicants can also note their objection to the new certification procedure. The ACLU wants to see a preliminary injunction on the funding prohibition ahead of the final grant deadline on March 24. A court hearing is scheduled for March 18. Labinger said at a March 6 press briefing that the lawsuit identifies the federal preference for one perspective over another as 'viewpoint discrimination,' which may violate the First Amendment. 'Our lawsuit points out that that is contrary to the statute that created the NEA, it is arbitrary and capricious, the standard of 'promoting gender ideology' is unknown, and therefore vague and inapplicable,' Labinger said. 'Also it's apparently saying that it's okay to be anti- gender ideology, but not for it. If that's what 'promoting' is, that's what we call viewpoint discrimination.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Incarcerated Trans Woman Sues Trump Administration Over Executive Order That Would Place Her in a Men's Prison
Them' An incarcerated trans woman is suing the Trump administration over the President's recently issued anti-trans executive order. Trump signed the order, titled "Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,' on day one of his second term. In addition to mandating a strict, binary definition of gender and potentially invalidating X gender markers on passports, the order would bar incarcerated trans women from being housed in women's facilities and deny all trans inmates access to gender-affirming care. In response, an incarcerated trans woman known pseudonymously as Maria Moe filed a lawsuit against Trump in an attempt to block the order, on the basis that it violates the Constitution. The lawsuit claims that the order violates due process under the Fifth Amendment, and the Eight Amendment's rules against cruel and unusual punishment. The National Center for Lesbian Rights, G.L.B.T.Q. Advocates and Defenders, and private law firm Lowenstein Sandler filed the 24-page complaint in federal court in Massachusetts on Sunday, per the New York Times. It states that Moe 'has lived as a woman and has taken hormones continuously since she was a teenager,' and that her sex has been recorded in Bureau of Prisons (BOP) records as 'female' until recently. However, on January 25, Moe's sex was reportedly listed as 'male' in accordance with the executive order. According to the complaint, Moe was removed from the general population at her women's prison, placed in solitary confinement, and informed that she would be imminently transferred to a men's facility due to the executive order. The lawsuit states that Moe's safety will be significantly compromised if she is transferred to a men's facility, including being 'at an extremely high risk of harassment, abuse, violence, and sexual assault,' and experiencing 'worsening gender dysphoria.' Incarcerated trans women already experience greater risks than everyone else — according to the Marshall Project, only 10 of more than 1,000 trans women in federal prisons are incarcerated in women's facilities. Analysis from the Williams Institute has also shown that 37% of trans people report being assaulted while incarcerated, compared to 3.4% of non-trans people. Trans people are also more likely to be thrown in solitary confinement, at 28.2%, as opposed to 18.2% of non-trans people. Everything You Need to Know About Trump's Executive Order Attempting to Erase Trans Americans The president signed the sweeping order within hours of taking office, signaling that curtailing the rights of trans people is a top priority for his administration. Moe is requesting declaratory judgment stating that the executive order violates her rights, in addition to a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of the order. Moe's lawsuit comes in the wake of a settlement agreement between incarcerated trans woman Grace Pinson and the BOP, after Pinson filed dozens of lawsuits alleging that she had been repeatedly abused by fellow inmates and staff, and denied access to gender-affirming care. Pinson was paid $95,000 in exchange for dropping all of her remaining lawsuits against the BOP, according to The Marshall Project. Them has reached out to the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Get the best of what's queer. Sign up for Them's weekly newsletter here. Originally Appeared on them.
