LGBTQ+ community receives big win in court
Recently, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted a preliminary injunction blocking the implementation of three of President Trump’s executive orders that threatened to defund vital health and support services for LGBTQ+ people, including those living with or at risk of HIV.
The injunction granted in Lambda Legal’s lawsuit San Francisco AIDS Foundation v. Trump prevents the Trump Administration from defunding the nine organizations represented in the lawsuit as the case proceeds. The order holds that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed in showing that multiple provisions of two anti-DEI executive orders and an anti-transgender executive order are unconstitutional.
“This is a critical win—not only for the nine organizations we represent, but for LGBTQ communities and people living with HIV across the country,” said Jose Abrigo, Lambda Legal’s HIV Project Director and Senior Counsel on the case. “The Court blocked anti-equity and anti-LGBTQ executive orders that seek to erase transgender people from public life, dismantle DEI efforts, and silence nonprofits delivering lifesaving services. Today’s ruling acknowledges the immense harm these policies inflict on these organizations and the people they serve.”
The legal win will protect the nine nonprofit organizations from having to shutter programs or silence their advocacy for fear of losing critical federal support while the case proceeds. The ruling ensures organizations such as the 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.
In the 52-pages decision, the U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tigar wrote:
“While the Executive requires some degree of freedom to implement its political agenda, it is still bound by the Constitution. Even in the context of federal subsidies, it cannot weaponize Congressionally appropriated funds to single out protected communities for disfavored treatment or suppress ideas that do not like or are deemed dangerous. Absent injunctive relief, Plaintiffs face the imminent loss of federal funding critical to their ability to provide lifesaving healthcare and support services to marginalized LGBTQ populations. This loss not only threatens the survival of critical programs but also forces Plaintiffs to choose between their constitutional rights and their continued existence.”
The court’s decision means these nonprofits can continue providing HIV prevention and treatment, housing, mental health support, and culturally competent health care—services that are often unavailable elsewhere and that these organizations provide to specific and vulnerable populations.
“We are relieved—but make no mistake, we are also resolute. Today’s decision to block these dangerous, anti-LGBTQ+ orders is a critical step in protecting not just our organization, but the communities we exist to serve. These policies threatened to erase access to lifesaving HIV and health services for transgender, nonbinary, and queer people across the country. That isn’t just bad policy—it’s cruel, and it’s inhumane. The Court’s action gives us the fuel to keep fighting. And we will—because our communities deserve nothing less than dignity, equity, and the right to thrive.” Dr. Tyler TerMeer, CEO of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, lead plaintiff in the lawsuit.
