Court Rules “Gender Ideology” Ban ban on Art Donations Unconstitutional
Rhode Island federal court ruled Friday that the National Arts Donation (NEA) grant does not require compliance with President Trump’s executive order “gender ideology.” New York Times. The court ruled that the new policy that would be effective when reviewing grant applicants is violated by the U.S. Constitution.
New regulations proposed in February said federal funds “cannot be used to promote gender ideology”, which includes “false claims that men can identify as and thus become women and vice versa.” This applies to the NEA grant application process.
ACLU’s Rhode Island branch filed a lawsuit in March on behalf of several theaters, claiming that the NEA’s new policy would limit the types of works that could be displayed, a violation of the organization’s First Amendment rights.
The complaint states that the executive order is “an illegal and unconstitutional exercise of executive power, with chaos airing in funding for art projects across the United States.”
The executive order’s impact has been affected by several factors, according to the lawsuit, with drama groups producing or supporting trans and nonbinary people and storylines.
William E., a senior district judge appointed by former President George W. Bush, William E.
In April after the lawsuit was filed, the agency issued a “final notice” detailing a new process in which the NEA chair would review the grant application on a “case-by-case basis” basis to determine “artistic excellence and merits, including whether the proposed project promotes gender ideology.”
The Rhode Island court said the procedure still violates the First Amendment, but “a valid final notice, which is considered to promote gender ideology, is unlikely to be approved for NEA funding,” added: “The final notice is therefore a limit on the artist’s speech, which is based on the perspective because it allocates views on issues of gender identity to the expression of certain ideas.”
