Issue
In May, the OMB released proposed regulations that would dramatically revise the U.S. government’s administration and oversight of federal grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts. The regulations would introduce new requirements, restrictions, evaluations, and approvals for federal grants, including a prohibition on funding projects that “promote, encourage, subsidize or facilitate” diversity, equity, or inclusion projects or “gender ideology.” The proposed regulations would also undermine reliance on common evidentiary standards, such as the traditional peer-review process, and strengthen agencies’ discretionary power to terminate grants that do not align with current “program goals, federal priorities, or the national interest.”
Impact
If adopted, the proposed regulations could be interpreted to prohibit or severely restrict federally funded research on transgender, nonbinary, and intersex communities and are likely to substantially impact LGBT research more broadly, including research on subpopulations such as LGBT immigrants and LGBT people of color. Furthermore, the regulations are likely to obstruct necessary research on gender-affirming care at academic medical centers.
Summary
Scholars present research demonstrating how federally funded research has improved our understanding of the demographics and socioeconomic characteristics of the LGBT population in the U.S. They discuss how federal investment is critical to providing insights and guidance into the needs and disparities experienced by LGBT communities and the negative impact the regulations are likely to have on LGBT-related research in the U.S. Additionally, they examine how several sections of the proposed regulations may conflict with the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), the First and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, the Constitution’s guarantee of Separation of Powers, and other provisions of law.