"Earlier this year, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) began requiring grant recipients to attest they were not promoting "gender ideology" or operating any programs that contributed to diversity, equity, or inclusion. As an independent agency of the federal government, the NEA announced this new requirement for artists in response to anti-DEI executive orders from the Trump administration."
"Then, on September 19, a federal judge ruled that this NEA requirement was in violation of the First Amendment and could not be implemented. In his ruling, Judge William E. Smith, senior district judge for the District of Rhode Island, wrote that the NEA had been created by law with specific regulations requiring "grants are awarded on talent alone, irrespective of the artists' viewpoints or the messages conveyed in their works.""
"On a Friday afternoon in late August, hundreds of writers who had applied to the 2026 Creative Writing Fellowship from the NEA, an individual artist program which had awarded up to $50,000 for writers of prose and poetry, received an email alerting them that the NEA was canceling the program, effective immediately. The reason? The agency needed to focus "on projects that reflect the nation's rich artistic heritage and creativity as prioritized by the [Trump] Administration.""
The National Endowment for the Arts instituted a requirement that grant recipients attest they were not promoting "gender ideology" or running programs supporting diversity, equity, or inclusion, citing anti‑DEI executive orders. The requirement was revised to a case‑by‑case review, evaluating projects at the final stage. The agency said it needed to focus on projects reflecting the nation's artistic heritage. A federal judge ruled the requirement violated the First Amendment, stating grants must be awarded on talent alone. The policy and its implementation led the NEA to cancel the 2026 Creative Writing Fellowship, affecting hundreds of applicants.
Read at Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
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