California judge says government can’t force recipients to halt programs that promote diversity
A federal judge in California has blocked the Trump administration from enforcing anti-diversity and anti-transgender executive orders in grant funding requirements that LGBTQ+ organizations say are unconstitutional.
Jon Tigar, a US district judge, said on Monday that the federal government cannot force recipients to halt programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) or acknowledge the existence of transgender people in order to receive grant funding. The order will remain in effect while the legal case continues, although government lawyers will probably appeal.
The funding provisions “reflect an effort to censor constitutionally protected speech and services promoting DEI and recognizing the existence of transgender individuals”, Tigar wrote.
He went on to say that the executive branch must still be bound by the constitution in shaping its agenda and that 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 it does not like or has deemed dangerous”.
