A federal judge in Rhode Island has ruled that the National Endowment for the Arts’s (NEA) application of the Trump administration’s ban on “gender ideology” to its grant review process violates the First Amendment. After President Trump ordered all federal agencies to alter their internal policies so as not to use federal funds to “promote gender ideology,” the NEA, a federal agency, updated its website to include a certification requirement that would force applicants to agree not to “promote gender ideology” with their funds. The NEA voluntarily dropped the certification requirement in March, but the agency said it would still factor in whether an organization “promote[s] gender ideology” in its review of applications. Oser noted that decisions for Fiscal Year 2026 grants will be released in November, the results of which could test whether the NEA truly did not consider “gender ideology” despite the recent court ruling. “Many people have said, in the midst of everything else going on, that this little flame in little Rhode Island has brought some joy,” Martínez told Hyperallergic.