• Equality
  • Community
    • Health
    • Youth
    • Seniors
  • Voices
    • From the CEO
    • Take Five
    • Why I Give
  • About the Center
  • Galleries
  • Calendar
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending
  • 2nd Annual Sabor de Mi Centro Block Party Boogies in Boyle Heights
  • Senior Prom Celebrates 25th Anniversary
  • “Solidarity Forever”: Montana State Rep. Zooey Zephyr at Trans Town Hall
  • “We Are Immense, and We Are Abundant”: Trans Pride LA Organizer Gina Bigham Looks Back on a Decade-Plus of Highlights and the Biggest Trans Pride Yet
  • Trans Actors, Athletes, and Activists Celebrate Community and Solidarity at First-Ever Trans Town Hall
  • “My Crown Is Paid For”: 12 Center Portraits of Juneteenth
  • House of Avalon, Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Join Center Staff and Supporters for LA Pride: “F*ck the Margins. We’re the Center.”
  • This Year’s AIDS/LifeCycle Participants on Why They Ride
Twitter Facebook Instagram YouTube
LGBT News Now
Learn about career opportunities at the Center
  • Equality
  • Community
    • Health
    • Youth
    • Seniors
  • Voices
    • From the CEO
    • Take Five
    • Why I Give
  • About the Center
  • Galleries
  • Calendar
LGBT News Now
You are at:Home»Community»Los Angeles LGBT Center Successfully Blocks Trump Administration’s Executive Order to Ban Speech About Systemic Racism, Sexism, and Implicit Bias

Los Angeles LGBT Center Successfully Blocks Trump Administration’s Executive Order to Ban Speech About Systemic Racism, Sexism, and Implicit Bias

0
By on December 24, 2020 Community

A U.S. District Court judge ruled Tuesday in favor of a group of plaintiffs, among them the Los Angeles LGBT Center, to issue a nationwide preliminary injunction barring the Trump administration from implementing its Executive Order that would have prohibited federal contractors and grantees from conducting workplace diversity trainings or engaging in grant‐funded work that explicitly acknowledges and confronts the existence of structural racism and sexism in our society.

Judge Beth Labson Freeman issued her ruling on The Diversity Center v. Trump after hearing oral argument November 10, 2020, on the motion for a preliminary injunction sought by the Center and co-plaintiffs in their lawsuit filed earlier in November challenging the ban.

From her ruling:

            “The Court agrees with Plaintiffs that the Government’s argument is a gross mischaracterization
            of the speech Plaintiffs want to express and an insult to their work of addressing discrimination
            and injustice towards historically underserved communities. That this Government dislikes this
            speech is irrelevant to the analysis but permeates their briefing.”

“President Trump’s executive order struck at the very heart of our country’s core principles, limiting freedom of speech and curtailing efforts to explore root causes of inequality,” said Los Angeles LGBT Center Health Services Co-Director Dr. Ward Carpenter, the lawsuit’s individual plaintiff. “As a provider of critical services to underserved communities, the Center has a responsibility to help reduce barriers to care wherever possible. Black, Latinx, transgender, HIV-positive, and other LGBTQ people have been ignored and even mistreated by the healthcare system for generations. If the Center is to achieve our goal of creating a world where all LGBTQ people are free, equal, and complete members of society, we must start by acknowledging the many ways in which the system has failed our community, then work to change it. We applaud the court’s decision to halt this mean-spirited and destructive Executive Order, and we look forward to a new Administration that will actually support efforts to address systemic discrimination and promote equality.”

The Executive Order (issued on September 22, 2020) and later Trump administration guidance labels the discussion of intersectionality, critical race theory, white privilege, systemic racism, or implicit or unconscious bias in diversity training as “race and sex scapegoating” and forbids agencies from “promot[ing]” these “divisive concepts.” The order describes such trainings as un‐American, directs agency heads to audit internal training curricula and discontinue these trainings, to conduct a similar audit of federal contractors, and to suspend or deny funding to contractors and grantees whose trainings or grant‐funded activities cover these topics.

“This injunction was critically important for our clients—organizations and individuals on the front line combatting COVID‐19, HIV/AIDS, and the violence perpetrated against Black and Brown people by law enforcement,” said Avatara Smith‐Carrington, Tyron Garner Memorial Law Fellow at Lambda Legal. “Judge Freeman saw this ban for what it is: An effort to quash the truth and sweep under the rug an honest and long overdue reckoning with structural racism and sexism in our society.

“To effectively address racial disparities in our health care and legal systems, our clients have to train people on systemic racism, sexism, and anti‐LGBT bias,” Smith‐Carrington added. “This is a victory for truth, science, and for the principle of services focusing on the needs of the people being impacted instead of serving the agenda of the Trump administration.”

On November 2, Lambda Legal filed the federal lawsuit The Diversity Center v. Trump in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of the Center and five other organizational plaintiffs (including an advocacy and service organization for LGBT seniors as well as HIV/AIDS health and advocacy organizations nationwide), a consulting company, and an individual plaintiff. The organizational plaintiffs are the Los Angeles LGBT Center; AIDS Foundation of Chicago; Bradbury‐Sullivan LGBT Community Center in Allentown, PA; CrescentCare in New Orleans; The Diversity Center in Santa Cruz, CA; and SAGE, based in New York City. The consultancy is B. Brown Consulting, a Michigan‐based business with a federal contract to train correctional facility staff, governmental agencies, and nonprofits. As previously mentioned, the individual plaintiff is the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Health Services Co-Director Dr. Ward Carpenter.

Lambda Legal filed its brief seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent the Trump administration from implementing the order and cutting funding for federal contractors on November 15, 2020. Lambda Legal’s team working on the case includes: Camilla Taylor; Karen Loewy; Scott Schoettes; Currey Cook; Omar Gonzalez‐Pagan; Avatara A. Smith‐Carrington; Alexis Paige; and, Cheryl Angelaccio. They are joined by pro‐bono co‐counsel from Ropes & Gray, including: Douglas Hallward‐Driemeier; Kirsten Mayer; Nathalia Sosa; Jessica Soto; Thanithia Billing; Annie Monjar; Jennifer Cullinane; Ethan Weinberg; Fred Boehrer; and, William Richard Allen.

To read Judge Beth Labson Freeman’s ruling on The Diversity Center v. Trump , visit bit.ly/thediversitycenterruling

To read the full complaint The Diversity Center v. Trump, visit bit.ly/thediversitycenter

For more information about the plaintiffs, visit bit.ly/thediversitycenterplaintiffs

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)

Related Posts

2nd Annual Sabor de Mi Centro Block Party Boogies in Boyle Heights

“Solidarity Forever”: Montana State Rep. Zooey Zephyr at Trans Town Hall

“We Are Immense, and We Are Abundant”: Trans Pride LA Organizer Gina Bigham Looks Back on a Decade-Plus of Highlights and the Biggest Trans Pride Yet

Comments are closed.

Upcoming Events

Oct 14
7:30 am - 6:00 pm

Models of Pride 2023

View Calendar
About Us

LGBT News Now

LGBT News Now is a publication of the Los Angeles LGBT Center. Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2019, the Center is the largest LGBT organization in the world, dedicated to building a world where LGBT thrive as healthy, equal, and complete members of society. Learn more at lalgbtcenter.org.

Follow Us on Instagram

lalgbtcenter

The Los Angeles LGBT Center is building a world where LGBT people thrive as healthy, equal, and complete members of society.

Los Angeles LGBT Center
“Queer people are told to minimize everything. W “Queer people are told to minimize everything. We’re told to be the friend or the supporting character. But drag makes us think, what if I’m the main character?” asked #TrixieMattel in her speech at last year’s #ModelsofPride, the world’s largest free conference for #LGBTQ+ youth. “I want you guys to know that you are all the main character.”

The “RuPaul’s Drag Race” champ accepted the event’s Model of Pride award, celebrating her epic career spanning entertainment, music, cosmetics—and even commercial renovation, with the hotel makeover series “Trixie Motel” for Discovery—at a time when drag was becoming a growing target for the far-right. 

This year, the drag bans have evolved into an anti-LGBTQ assault on California schools, but Models of Pride is back on October 14th with keynote speakers like #DylanMulvaney and #HayleyKiyoko to create the safe, empowering space our students need right now. You can register at the #linkinbio, or head to modelsofpride.org for more info.
Closing out #BiVisibilityWeek with a banger. (Did Closing out #BiVisibilityWeek with a banger. (Did YOU know the B in Cardi B was for #Bisexual?) Remember you are valid, you owe nobody an explanation, and you’re loved. 🩷💜💙
Happy #BiVisibilityDay! Today we’re giving love Happy #BiVisibilityDay! Today we’re giving love to and celebrating the B in LGBTQ. Bi Visibility Day was created to recognize and celebrate the Bi+ community including the need to reduce stigma of the identity. Bisexuality is beautiful and bi folks deserve love, support and acceptance. How are you celebrating Bi Visibility Day? Drop your 🩷💜💙’s in the comments 

🎥 @kimhoyos
🚨#Breaking: The United States is facing a short 🚨#Breaking: The United States is facing a shortage of injectable penicillin, which is the usual medication used for treating #syphilis. Fortunately, #DoxyPEP has been proven to effectively lower the risk of sexually transmitted infections, such as syphilis, by as much as 87%. For more information, swipe to view our FAQs on DoxyPEP or visit the link in our bio.
We are excited to announce recording artist #Hayle We are excited to announce recording artist #HayleyKiyoko (@hayleykiyoko), AKA #LesbianJesus, as this year’s double headliner and honoree at our #ModelsofPride youth summit! She joins keynote speaker and Model of Pride Award recipient #DylanMulvaney and social media star @RubasWorld, who will serve as the event’s host on October 14.

At a time when LGBTQ+ education is under attack, Models of Pride lifts love, acceptance, and queer joy for LGBTQ+ youth and allies. For more info and registration, visit modelsofpride.org. 

#ModelsofPride #LGBTQYouth  #LoveAndAcceptance
Join us for #Queerceañera on Friday, Sept. 29th! Join us for #Queerceañera on Friday, Sept. 29th! 

Hosted by RuPaul's #DragRace Season 15 alum, @EsTitties, Queerce is a vivid cultural summit and community cotillion rooted in unbridled celebration. This year’s honorees RuPaul’s #DragRaceMéxico host @allaboutvalentina and actress/recording artist @MissBenny sitting down together in a candid keynote conversation. 

But wait, there’s more! The post-program reception features tropical cocktails and live performances by #LA’s own Latin dance phenomenon @Queerchata. RSVP now at our #linkinbio #LatinxHeritageMonth
We are thrilled to announce superstar and host of We are thrilled to announce superstar and host of #DragRaceMexico #Valentina as an honoree and keynote speaker at the Center’s first-ever #Queerceañera! Join us in celebrating the vibrancy of LA's LGBTQ+ Latinx community on Friday, Sept. 29 in Hollywood.

There’s more! The post program reception features tropical cocktails and live performances curated by LA’s own Latin dance phenomenon @Queerchata. RSVP now at our #linkinbio #LatinxHeritageMonth
“You don’t necessarily have to be from a ranch “You don’t necessarily have to be from a ranch to be a cowboy.” Every spring in Zacatecas, Mexico, men from across North America don their finest cowboy attire for a private gathering of gay vaqueros. The weekend-long convention is a celebration of Mexican culture where attendees are free to embrace their authentic selves. “[Mexican culture] is ours, too,” one attendee told the Los Angeles Times.

Founded nearly 20 years ago by bar owner Mariano Escobar, the event features live music, dancing, and a contest for “rostro vaquero”—the official face of the convention and a nod to Mexican festivals where women are crowned “princesses” or “queens.” This year, the title went to Eros Herrera, a police officer who recently opened a homeless shelter and soup kitchen serving the #LGBTQ+ community in San Luis Potosi.

“When I’m on the street, I’m very discreet,” Daniel Renteria, an agave farmer who traveled an hour and a half to attend, told the Times. “Having to hide yourself is hard. Events like this one unite us.” Read more at the #linkinbio.

Happy #LatinxHeritageMonth—stay tuned for more coverage on this page over the next few weeks.

📷 Gary Coronado via @latimes
Step into the captivating world of “The Real Bla Step into the captivating world of “The Real Black Swann: Confessions of America’s First Black Drag Queen.” The play tells the untold history of William Dorsey Swann, a trailblazing figure in the #drag community and #LGBTQ+ activism. Written and performed by the talented Les Kurkendaal-Barrett, this one-person show is a meditation on the legacy of ancestry and what it is to be #Black and gay in America. Don't miss this groundbreaking show at the Davidson/Valentini Theatre, running now through Sept. 24! Follow the link in our bio to get your #tickets now.🎭✨

📷 @mammothsprite
Load More... Follow on Instagram
Stay Connected
Subscribe
Copyright © 2022 Los Angeles LGBT Center
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy
  • Contact Us

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.