A federal District Court in Maryland (Lydia Kay Griggsby) has issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the National Institutes of Health and other governmental agencies from terminating and suspending research programs dealing with LGBTQI+ issues. It has found that the plaintiffs have shown a likelihood of success on their claims that the actions, taken pursuant to President Trump’s first day Executive Orders to eliminate programs dealing with diversity, equity, and inclusion or “gender ideology,” are illegal. The Court found that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on their claims that the agency directives to terminate the research violates antidiscrimination provisions of the Affordable Care Act and the Equal Protection provisions of the Fifth Amendment. It enjoined the federal agencies from implementing or enforcing directives prohibiting federal funding because the research relates to “gender identity,” “transgender issues,” “diversity,” “equity,” “equity objectives,” “inclusion,” “accessibility,” “DEI,” “LGBTQI+ health,” and/or “gender ideology.”
The case was brought by the American Association of Physicians for Human Rights, Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQI+ Equality, and several individual researchers against the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Health and Human Services, and their leadership. (American Association of Physicians for Human Rights v. National Institutes of Health, D. MD, No 25-cv-01620, 8/14/25.)
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