Arts Organizations Sue the National Endowment for the Arts Over New Rules Against 'Gender Ideology'

BroadwayWorld has just learned that several theaters have officially taken action against the National Endowment for the Arts' new grantee rules, which are a result of Trump's recent Gender Ideology Executive Order. The plaintiffs claim that this "executive
power has sowed chaos in the funding of arts projects across the United States, causing grievous irreparable harm to Plaintiffs and other organizations."

The plaintiffs listed in court documents include Rhode Island Latino Arts, National Queer Theater, The Theater Offensive, and Theatre Communications Group. 

The official complaint reads: "The NEA’s “gender ideology” prohibition is contrary to the agency’s governing statute, arbitrary and capricious, and violates the First and Fifth Amendments by imposing a vague and viewpoint-based restriction on artists’ speech. Plaintiffs request that the Court declare the “gender ideology” prohibition unlawful, set it aside, and enjoin its application facially and as to Plaintiffs"

This news comes soon after four prominent theatres came together to issue a statement on the topic. The Public Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop and Portland Center Stage wrote: 

We believe that the excellence of our work is inseparable from the diversity we champion. As theaters and institutions charged with telling stories that define our culture, we are deeply troubled by the new Assurance of Compliance guidelines related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and “gender ideology” announced by the NEA. These guidelines’ tacit threat of censorship and erasure, as well as their disregard for the governing laws through which the NEA was created, deeply undermine the Endowment’s mission. Under the Arts, Humanities, and Museums Amendments of 1985, Congress specifically updated the Endowment to carry out, “projects and productions which have substantial artistic and cultural significance and that reach, or reflect the culture of, a minority, inner city, rural or tribal community.”

We are confident in the legal foundation of our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives and remain steadfast and collectively committed to advancing this work. We will continue to uplift the work of transgender, non-binary, and queer artists and offer all our venues and programs for their stories. We will not endorse or agree to the NEA guidelines that seek to suppress or limit those efforts. We will petition the NEA requesting withdrawal of these two guidelines. We believe the NEA’s resources are intended for the artists of the United States and we intend to aggressively pursue their distribution based on the NEA’s legislated criteria of artistic excellence.