Trump Blocked From Defunding LGBTQ Nonprofits by Federal Judge

The Trump administration’s executive orders targeting transgender people and cracking down on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives by rescinding federal funding were largely blocked by a California federal court Monday.

Judge Jon S. Tigar granted most of a preliminary injunction request from a coalition of LGBTQ+ health and AIDS advocacy organizations that argued the executive orders seeking to eliminate their federal funding violated their First Amendment rights and the Constitution’s separation of powers.

“While the Executive requires some degree of freedom to implement its political agenda, it is still bound by the Constitution,” Tigar wrote in the injunction order. “And 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.”

Tigar, who sits on the US District Court for the Northern District of California, is the latest federal trial judge to weigh in on the constitutionality of the administration’s anti-DEI orders.

The ruling clashes with a court order by a Washington, D.C., federal judge, who last month denied a similar injunction request by civil rights groups. But the Monday ruling falls in line with federal courts in Maryland and Illinois, which similarly blocked the executive orders.

Tigar said the coalition of nonprofits are likely to win their claim that the funding provisions in the orders are an effort to censor constitutionally protected speech promoting DEI and recognizing the existence of transgender people.

The judge declined to grant the injunction with regard to the provision of one of the executive orders that requires the nonprofits to certify that that they will comply with all federal anti-discrimination laws as a condition for federal grants.

The plaintiffs’ attorney Jose Abrigo of Lambda Legal applauded the ruling in a statement, saying it blocks executive orders that “that seek to erase transgender people from public life, dismantle DEI efforts, and silence nonprofits delivering life-saving services.”

“Today’s ruling acknowledges the immense harm these policies inflict on these organizations and the people they serve and stops Trump’s orders in their tracks,” Abrigo said.

An attorney for the Department of Justice didn’t immediately return request for comment.

The case is San Francisco A.I.D.S. Foundation v. Trump, N.D. Cal., No. 4:25-cv-01824, 6/9/25.