Updated March 08, 2025 at 19:34 PM ET
Arts groups who make or support work focused on LGBTQ+ people and issues have sued the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in response to new rules imposed by the Trump Administration requiring that grant applicants agree not to promote "gender ideology" in their work.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed the suit on Thursday on behalf of Rhode Island Latino Arts, National Queer Theater, The Theater Offensive, and the Theatre Communications Group in U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island.
A day later, in response to the legal challenge, the NEA agreed to remove their requirement forcing artists to certify they will not "promote gender ideology" in their applications to secure federal funding — at least until the resolution of a legal challenge — but has not yet signaled it would remove its applicant eligibility requirement to comply with the Trump order.
The ACLU suit seeks to stop the federal agency that provides grants to arts organizations nationwide from implementing Executive Order 14168, which President Donald Trump signed on Jan. 20. As a result of the order, titled "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government," the NEA has asked grant applicants to certify that they will not use federal funds to "promote gender ideology."
The White House has said "gender ideology includes the idea that there is a vast spectrum of genders that are disconnected from one's sex."
About 1.3 million adults in the U.S. identify as transgender or gender nonconforming, and as many as 5 million Americans may be intersex, according to a brief published in January by the Williams Institute, a think tank at UCLA Law School.
The NEA agreed on Friday to remove the requirement forcing artists to certify they will not "promote gender ideology" in their funding applications while the outcome of the case is pending.
"No later than March 11, 2025, senior leadership at the NEA will approve the removal of the new language requiring compliance with E.O. 14168 in its Assurance of Compliance until the conclusion of this litigation," wrote NEA deputy chair for management and budget Ann Eilers in a declaration shared by the ACLU with NPR. "The NEA intends to no longer require applicants to certify their compliance with E.O. 14168 while the outcome of this litigation is pending."
It's a race against the clock: The lawsuit comes just three weeks ahead of the NEA's present funding cycle deadline on Mar. 24, leaving arts groups wondering if their applications will succeed — or whether they can apply for funding at all.
"This is an important development because our understanding is that many artists and arts organizations had decided not to apply this round at all because they objected to and/or feared having to make the certification," said ACLU lead counsel Vera Eidelman in an email to NPR.
In an interview with NPR, Eidelman said the NEA's "gender ideology" prohibition is unconstitutional under the First and Fifth Amendments. She said it also violates the NEA's governing statute.
" This new prohibition runs directly counter to the point of the NEA, and to the point of art in general, which is to explore ideas, explore the diversity of human experience," Eidelman said. "Forcing artists to be a mouthpiece for government views really runs counter to that."
"It is a cruel irony that we may now be ineligible for funding because our so-called 'gender ideology' is being targeted by the U.S. government," said Adam Odsess-Rubin, founding artistic director of the National Queer Theater, in an online statement. The New York-based company is seeking funding for its upcoming annual Criminal Queerness festival focusing on plays by dramatists who hail from countries with strong anti-LGBTQ+ laws. "These new requirements threaten the expression of not just our organization, but artists around the world whose identities have been criminalized." The National Queer Theater was offered a grant for 2025 but the award is "pending processing."
The NEA did not respond to a request for comment.
The agency has been the target of protests for imposing this and other restrictions falling under Trump's executive orders.
It recently had to dial back a different executive order-related rule asking grant applicants to certify that they, "will not operate any programs promoting 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' (DEI) that violate any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws, in accordance with Executive Order No. 14173" after The National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education and other groups sued the Trump Administration last month and won.
The NEA was not involved in that lawsuit. But like many other federal agencies, it subsequently had to update its Assurance of Compliance. The arts agency now states that it "is not currently requiring any grantee or contractor to make any 'certification' or other representation pursuant to Executive Order No. 14173."
Eidelman said her team has asked the court for an expedited hearing and to issue a preliminary injunction or a temporary restraining order. A hearing date is scheduled for March 18.
However, the NEA has not yet agreed to remove its eligibility criteria.
"Even though the NEA has agreed that no one has to certify they won't use funds in this way, applicants still won't get an NEA award if the government thinks their project will promote "gender ideology,'" Eidelman said. "That's the part we're still asking the court to block before March 24, when people must submit the specifics of their projects."
"We are thrilled with yesterday's victory," said Giselle Byrd, executive director of The Theater Offensive. "With this accomplishment, we must remember: The battle is not won."
NPR receives grant money from the National Endowment for the Arts.
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