$6.2 million in federal grants restored after legal win, Lambda Legal says

Over $6 million in grant funding to nine organizations was restored after a judge’s decision last month against the Trump administration, according to Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. It had filed the lawsuit in federal court.

“We have confirmed that our plaintiffs – LGBTQ+ organizations providing critical services to their communities – have seen their threatened funding restored,” stated Jose Abrigo, a Lambda Legal senior attorney and HIV project director. “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.” 

Lambda represented plaintiffs in San Francisco AIDS Foundation v. Trump. As the Bay Area Reporter previously reported, U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tigar granted a preliminary injunction temporarily blocking the Trump administration from defunding nine LGBTQ and HIV organizations. 

As the case proceeds, the Trump administration can’t use the order as a pretext to defund the foundation, as well as the San Francisco Community Health Center; the GLBT Historical Society; the Los Angeles LGBT Center; Baltimore Safe Haven; FORGE Wisconsin; the Bradbury-Sullivan Community Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania; the New York City LGBT Community Center; and Prisma Community Care in Phoenix.

The injunction was a temporary, and not a permanent, victory, as the case proceeds on the merits. The case came after executive orders signed by President Donald Trump earlier this year.

Specifically, the suit challenges executive order No. 14168, which states that, “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female,” and defines sex as “an individual's immutable biological classification” and not a synonym for gender identity. This order on gender identity also prohibits federal contractors and grantees from recognizing and respecting their identities or advocating for their civil rights. The lawsuit also challenges executive orders Nos. 14151 and 14173, which terminate equity-related grants and prohibit federal contractors and grantees from employing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility principles in their work.

The lawsuit came after federal agencies sent notices terminating federal funding to organizations serving transgender people and to entities whose work could be described as "equity-related" because they devote resources to underserved communities, address health disparities, or work to overcome systemic racism, sexism, or anti-LGBTQ bias. Some already have experienced temporary difficulties accessing their federal funds, though Lambda announced July 15 via its website the funding had been restored to the agencies.

The California plaintiffs – the foundation, historical society, community health center, all in San Francisco, and the Los Angeles center – didn’t immediately return requests for comment July 17. 

The foundation’s CEO, Tyler TerMeer, Ph.D., a gay Black man living with HIV, stated in a Facebook post Thursday that, “We are glad to see the restoration of funding that was cut or paused as a result of the president’s executive orders. Although there is much more we must do to ensure the health of our communities in the face of a hostile federal administration, we are heartened by the knowledge that we are fighting for a cause worth fighting for. We will not give up, and we will not back down.”

Lambda Legal was pleased the agencies will continue providing essential services.

“The legal win June 9 and the restored funding protect the nine nonprofit organizations across the country from having to shutter programs or silence their advocacy for fear of losing critical federal support while the case proceeds,” the agency stated. “The ruling ensures organizations such as San Francisco AIDS Foundation and Los Angeles and New York LGBTQ Centers can continue to operate, advocate, serve people, and save lives without further censorship or threats to their funding.”

The release continued that, “If implemented, the orders would severely harm nonprofit organizations’ ability to provide critical programs and services, such as HIV treatment and prevention, sexual and reproductive health screenings and services, youth programs, homelessness prevention, mental health, employment, and many others.”

SFAF announced late last month it was eliminating 34 staff positions in order to address a $5.71 million deficit, citing uncertainty about funding going forward and a need to tighten its belt so services wouldn’t be impacted, as the B.A.R. reported. TerMeer told the B.A.R. that it was necessary for the long-term survival of the agency, which has faced fiscal headwinds for months. 

The AIDS/LifeCycle ride it co-hosted with the Los Angeles center ended for good last month following years of declining participation. But the agency and other HIV service providers in the city received some good news in recent weeks when the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a two-year budget that restores cuts in their federal funding and California lawmakers allocated $75 million from the AIDS Drug Assistance Program Rebate Fund in the state’s budget for fiscal year 2025 to also cover looming cuts in federal HIV funding.