The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has granted a preliminary injunction blocking implementation of three of Donald Trump’s executive orders that threatened to defund vital health and support services for LGBTQ people, including those living with or at risk of HIV, a spokesperson for Lambda Legal announced today (Monday, June 9).
The injunction granted in Lambda Legal’s lawsuit, San Francisco AIDS Foundation v. Trump, stops the administration from defunding the nine organizations represented in the lawsuit as the case proceeds. The order holds that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed in showing that multiple provisions of two anti-DEI executive orders and an anti-transgender executive order are unconstitutional.
“This is a critical win — not only for the nine organizations we represent, but for LGBTQ communities and people living with HIV across the country,” said Jose Abrigo, Lambda Legal’s HIV Project director and senior counsel on the case. “The court blocked anti-equity and anti-LGBTQ executive orders 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.
The legal victory protects the nine nonprofit organizations across the country from having to shutter programs or silence their advocacy for fear of losing critical federal support while the case proceeds, a Lambda Legal press release explained.The ruling ensures organizations such as San Francisco AIDS Foundation and Los Angeles and New York LGBTQ Centers can continue to “operate, advocate, serve people and save lives without further censorship or threats to their funding.”
In granting the injunction, the court held that Lambda Legal’s plaintiffs and the transgender people they serve will likely succeed in demonstrating that the executive orders violate their rights to equal protection, free speech and due process, and that the orders likely violate the Separation of Powers.
In the 52-pages decision, the U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tigar wrote:
“While the executive requires some degree of freedom to implement its political agenda, it is still bound by the Constitution …. 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. […]
“Absent injunctive relief, plaintiffs face the imminent loss of federal funding critical to their ability to provide lifesaving healthcare and support services to marginalized LGBTQ populations,” Tigar added. “This loss not only threatens the survival of critical programs but also forces plaintiffs to choose between their constitutional rights and their continued existence.”
“We are relieved, but make no mistake, we are also resolute,” said Dr. Tyler TerMeer, CEO of San Francisco AIDS Foundation, lead plaintiff in the lawsuit. “Today’s decision to block these dangerous, anti-LGBTQ+ orders is a critical step in protecting not just our organization, but the communities we exist to serve. These policies threatened to erase access to lifesaving HIV and health services for transgender, nonbinary, and queer people across the country. That isn’t just bad policy, it’s cruel, and it’s inhumane.
“The court’s action gives us the fuel to keep fighting. And we will, because our communities deserve nothing less than dignity, equity, and the right to thrive.”
The judge explained his decision to grant the injunction by stating that “(T)hese three funding provisions reflect an effort to censor constitutionally protected speech and services promoting DEI and recognizing the existence of transgender individuals. These provisions seek to strip funding from programs that serve historically disenfranchised populations in direct contravention of several statutes under which plaintiffs receive funding.”
The court also denied a request by the U.S. Department of Justice to stay the injunction while the case is appealed.
Filed in February 2025, San Francisco AIDS Foundation v. Trump challenges three executive orders that aim to eliminate diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) programs and censor references to gender identity or LGBTQ populations. The plaintiffs include San Francisco AIDS Foundation, Los Angeles LGBT Center, GLBT Historical Society, San Francisco Community Health Center, Prisma Community Care in Arizona, The NYC LGBT Community Center, Bradbury-Sullivan Community Center in Pennsylvania, Baltimore Safe Haven and FORGE in Wisconsin.
— Tammye Nash