Arts groups sue NEA for new ‘gender ideology’-related grant restrictions

Arts groups who make or support work focused on LGBTQ+ people and issues are suing 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 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 on Thursday.

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.

The 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.”

In an interview with NPR, ACLU lead counsel Vera 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.