Mass. anti-domestic violence group joins suit over federal grant restrictions

Seventeen statewide anti-domestic and sexual violence coalitions, including a group in Massachusetts, are suing President Donald Trump's administration over requirements in grant applications that they don't promote “gender ideology” or run diversity, equity and inclusion programs or prioritize people in the country illegally.

The groups say the requirements, which Trump ushered in with executive orders, put them in “an impossible position.”

If they don't apply for federal money allocated under the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, they might not be able to provide rape crisis centers, battered women's shelters and other programs to support victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. But if the groups do apply, they said in the lawsuit, they would have to make statements they called “antithetical to their core values” — and take on legal risk.

In the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island on Monday, the coalitions said that agreeing to the terms of grants could open them to federal investigations and enforcement actions as well as lawsuits from private parties.

The groups suing include some from Democratic-controlled states, such as the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence, and in GOP-dominated ones, including the Idaho Coalition against Sexual and Domestic Violence. Jane Doe Inc. in Massachusetts also joined the suit.

Executive Director Hema Sarang-Sieminski said the new conditions "seek to turn back the decades of progress made by this field to create effective, inclusive responses to the needs of all survivors."

"These requirements pave the way for denying life-saving support to immigrant survivors, LGBTQIA+ survivors, survivors with disabilities, unhoused survivors, and many others from communities that are disproportionately targeted by violence," Sarang-Sieminski said. "We are proud to join with coalitions from across the country to challenge these unjust conditions and to stand firmly on the side of survivors, the survivor-serving workforce, and justice, safety, and healing for all."

The groups say the requirements are at odds with federal laws that require them not to discriminate on the basis of gender identity, to aid underserved racial and ethnic groups, and to emphasize immigrants with some programs and not to discriminate based on legal status.

The U.S. Department of Justice, which is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, did not respond to a request for comment.

The suit is one of more than 200 filed since January to challenge President Donald Trump's executive orders. There were similar claims in a suit over anti-DEI requirements in grants for groups that serve LGBTQ+ communities. A judge last week blocked the administration from enforcing those orders in context of those programs, for now.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report