California Attorney General Rob Bonta today co-led a coalition of 17 attorneys general in submitting an amicus brief in San Francisco AIDS Foundation, et al. v. Trump, et al., opposing the Trump Administration’s executive orders targeting programs that promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA). These orders declare programs promoting DEIA to be illegal and discriminatory, and require executive agencies to certify that all their contracts and grants do not promote DEIA. In the brief, Attorney General Bonta and the other attorneys general support a coalition of LGBTQ, healthcare, and community advocacy groups (“the plaintiffs”) in their lawsuit challenging the executive orders as unlawful. The coalition urges the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to uphold the preliminary injunction granted by a district court blocking the executive orders’ restrictions.

“Trump’s continued attacks on programs that promote diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility threatens to rip crucial support structures from under the feet of transgender individuals and other vulnerable populations,” said Attorney General Bonta. “My fellow attorneys general and I will continue to oppose these attempts to undermine data-backed programs that provide social and economic benefits and help people of all backgrounds and identities grow and prosper.”