Ahead of next week’s grant application deadline for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), organizations are in limbo following a new court ruling that does not prevent the federal agency from incorporating Trump’s anti-trans directives into its grant-making activities. Yesterday, April 3, Rhode Island’s federal district court denied a motion to stop the NEA from blocking funds to arts organizations whose projects promote “gender ideology,” a vague term used by the president to describe expansive and inclusive concepts of gender.
The ruling comes after four arts organizations represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) — Rhode Island Latino Arts (RILA), the Theatre Communications Group and the National Queer Theater in New York, and the Theater Offensive in Massachusetts — sued the NEA in early March over the agency’s implementation of a highly criticized grant requisite barring applicants from using NEA funds “to promote gender ideology,” following Trump’s executive order mandating essentialist definitions of gender.
“This order fails to bring us the clarity we need to apply for funds for projects that allow Latinx artists, especially those who are queer, trans, or nonbinary, to show up as their whole selves without fear of erasure of censorship,” Marta V. Martinez, executive director of RILA, said in a statement.
The NEA has not yet responded to Hyperallergic’s request for comment.
Less than a week after the ACLU filed the lawsuit, the NEA said it dropped the requirement. However, the requisite remains on the agency’s website, marked as “pending the outcome of litigation in the United States District Court of Rhode Island.” The NEA says it plans to issue a new policy by April 30.
In his ruling, Judge Smith acknowledged that the plaintiffs demonstrated “a likelihood of success” that the grant requirement would violate the First Amendment. Still, he denied the request for a preliminary injunction to block it, arguing that the NEA has already temporarily withdrawn the requisite.
In response to the ruling, Vera Eidelman, a senior ACLU attorney leading the suit, said in a statement that the judge’s “opinion makes clear that the NEA cannot lawfully reimpose its viewpoint-based eligibility bar.”
“Though it falls short of the relief we were seeking, we are hopeful that artists of all views and backgrounds will remain eligible for the support and recognition they deserve in this funding cycle and beyond,” Eidelman said.
NEA grant applications funding are due this Monday, April 7, leaving nonprofits funding programs that support LGBTQ+ and trans artists uncertain of their eligibility.
In an email, Martinez told Hyperallergic that decreased funding based on “gender ideology” would “narrow the spaces where our artists can safely and authentically create” and cut off crucial resources.
“Many come to RILA because, similar to a Land Acknowledgement, we express our commitment to elevating their work, providing income, and helping them build career sustainability,” Martinez said.
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