“Each nonprofit represented in our lawsuit offers a lifeline to vulnerable people, and any defunding of or enforcing silence about their work undermines public health, equity, and inclusion.”
Today, Lambda Legal asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to block implementation of three executive orders issued by President Trump that threaten significant funding and programmatic cuts to nine nonprofit organizations across the country that serve the LGBTQ community. In February, Lambda Legal filed a challenge to the executive orders, San Francisco AIDS Foundation v. Trump, and today asked the court to grant a preliminary injunction halting implementation of the executive orders as it litigates the challenge. The lead lawyer of the case, Lambda Legal HIV Project Director Jose Abrigo issued the following statement upon completion of today’s hearing:
“Today, we laid out in court how these executive orders are harming these organizations and the LGBTQ people they serve. The orders seek to erase transgender people from public life, dismantle diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives, and strip funding from nonprofits providing life-saving health care, housing, and support services. We demonstrated the existential threat posed by these orders, putting these organizations at risk of closing their doors and depriving thousands of people of critical services.
“That’s why we asked the Court to grant a preliminary injunction to block the implementation of these orders, which endanger the health and safety of many people, denying HIV medication and prevention services, housing to vulnerable communities, mental health services, health care for transgender people, and so much more. An injunction until the lawsuit is resolved would help them keep their doors open to continue to provide life-saving services.
“Each nonprofit represented in our lawsuit offers a lifeline to vulnerable people. Defunding them and forcing them to repudiate the existence of transgender people and eliminate all equity-related work discriminates against the people they serve and undermines public health, equity, and inclusion.
We look forward to continue defending these organizations during the next steps in this case and to ensuring that these organizations can fully fulfill their missions—without fear, without funding stripped, and securing their ability to advocate for and serve transgender people and everyone living with HIV.”
BACKGROUND:
In February, 2025, Lambda Legal filed San Francisco AIDS Foundation v. Trump in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, challenging three of President Trump’s anti-equity and anti-transgender executive orders. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of nine nonprofit organizations; including four based in California (San Francisco AIDS Foundation, Los Angeles LGBT Center, GLBT Historical Society, San Francisco Community Health Center); one in Arizona (Prisma Community Care); one in New York (The NYC LGBT Community Center); one in Pennsylvania (Bradbury-Sullivan Community Center); one in Maryland (Baltimore Safe Haven); and one in Wisconsin (FORGE).