US government forced to return $6.2 million in funding to LGBTQ+ and HIV groups
US president, Donald Trump, said he never had the ‘privilege’ of visiting Jeffrey Epstein’s island (Getty)
US president, Donald Trump, said he never had the 'privilege' of visiting Jeffrey Epstein's island (Getty)
The US government has been made to restore millions of dollars in funding for LGBTQ+ and HIV groups following a court ruling.
Over $6.2 million in federal grant funding has been returned to nine organisations that support LGBTQ+ people and those living with HIV after they won a case challenging an executive order issued by US president Donald Trump.
Shortly following his inauguration in January, the 79-year-old signed a set of executive orders threatening to rescind federal funds for LGBTQ+ groups issued by the government.
Those orders were blocked after US district court judge, Jon Tigar, issued a preliminary injunction in June, arguing in a ruling opinion that the orders are unconstitutional and violate both the first and fifth amendment.
Lambda Legal, which represented the plaintiffs in the case, confirmed on Tuesday (15 July) that the grant funding had since been returned.
Jose Abrigo, Lambda Legal’s HIV project director and senior attorney, said the LGBTQ+ organisations, who provide “critical services” to the community, have “seen their threatened funding restored.”
“When we fight, we win,” Abrigo continued. “We know the battle is far from over and there will be setbacks along the way, but the cause is too important, and the need too great, for us to lose heart.”
The organisations whose funding has returned include the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, the Los Angeles LGBT Center, GLBT Historical Society, the San Francisco Community Health Center, Prisma Community Care, the NYC LGBT Community Center, the Bradbury-Sullivan Community Center, Baltimore Safe Haven, and FORGE.
US government closes ‘life-saving’ LGBTQ+ youth hotline
The win comes amid the US government’s continued efforts to rescind the rights of LGBTQ+ people and cut funding to vital services.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), headed by Robert F Kennedy Jr, closed a vital emergency crisis support line, known as the ‘Press 3 Option’, on Thursday (17 July) despite non-profit groups urging that the government reconsider.
The LGBTQ+ Youth Specialised Service hotline, which was part of the national 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, was created in association with The Trevor Project as a way to forward LGBTQ+ youth in crisis to appropriate resources.
Trump threatened to close the “life-saving” hotline via leaked budget proposals in April, which were later confirmed by HHS.
Since it began operation in 2022, the lifeline has helped support an increasing number of LGBTQ+ youth, with demand skyrocketing from 1,752 referrals in September 2022 to 58,924 in February 2025 alone.
Calls reached their peak in January – the same month as Donald Trump’s inauguration – with 60,711 callers.
