NEA imposes "gender ideology" funding bar and applicant certification

Funding actionNEA

Date
Actor
National Endowment for the Arts
Type
Funding action (grant eligibility condition)
Section
OTHER AGENCIES (HUD, FTC, USDA, NEA/NEH/IMLS, Interior/NPS, Smithsonian, Census/BJS, Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, DOL, DOT)

Summary

Implementing EO 14168, the NEA required all grant applicants to certify that "federal funds shall not be used to promote gender ideology" and on February 6, 2025 made any project deemed to "promote gender ideology" ineligible for funding — effectively excluding trans-themed art and artists from federal arts support. Four arts organizations sued on March 6, 2025 (Rhode Island Latino Arts v. NEA, D.R.I.); the NEA committed, in a March 10, 2025 declaration (Ann Eilers Decl., ECF No. 10), to dropping the certification requirement no later than March 11, 2025, and on April 3, 2025 the court denied preliminary relief as moot for that cycle while holding the eligibility bar likely violated the First Amendment and the NEA's statute.

Status

Enjoined/set aside: in September 2025 (press release Sept. 19, 2025) Senior Judge William Smith (D.R.I.) held the NEA's application of the "gender ideology" bar was viewpoint discrimination violating the First Amendment and arbitrary and capricious under the APA, and enjoined and set aside its implementation. Case remains open to monitor compliance; FY2026 grant decisions (expected Nov. 2026) will test it. (See also sections 9, 10.)

As recorded in the data of . Check the sources for anything newer.

Sources