Judge rules in favor of LGBTQ+ health researchers after HHS revoked funding for “radical” programs

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A U.S. district court judge has ruled in favor of LGBTQ+ health researchers who sued after the administration began targeting so-called “woke” programs for elimination and defunding.

The lawsuit, GLMA v. NIH, was filed by Lambda Legal on behalf of 16 individual researchers as well as the group, GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ+ Equality. Together, they sued Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr.’s National Institutes of Health for both revoking funding from current grants and withholding other applications from review.

Last week, Judge Lydia Griggsby, a Joe Biden appointee for the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, granted a preliminary injunction to the plaintiffs, ruling that the administration illegally discriminated against the researchers, violating the Fifth Amendment and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act.

“Today’s ruling affirms what health professionals have made clear for decades: LGBTQ+ health research is not optional; it is essential,” GLMA Executive Director Alex Sheldon said in a statement.

“NIH’s attempt to defund this work was never about science; it was an effort to erase transgender people, LGBTQ+ communities, and the researchers committed to our health. By halting these unlawful terminations, the court has protected both the integrity of public health research and the careers of those advancing it.”

Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, Senior Counsel and Health Care Strategist at Lambda Legal, added that the ruling allows the plaintiffs to…

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