#national-endowment-for-the-arts

#national-endowment-for-the-arts

On Sept. 19, Senior U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith sided with the plaintiffs' first two claims, denouncing "a viewpoint-based standard of review to Plaintiffs that disfavors applications deemed 'to promote gender ideology'" - a catch-all dogwhistle describing depictions of gender and sexuality outside rigid heterosexual marriage. The court "vacates and sets aside Defendants' current plan to implement the Executive Order."

In May, the World Arts West Dance lost a $60,000 National Endowment of the Arts grant, part of the millions of dollars of funding cut from the NEA that forms part of the generational assault on the endowment summed up by the Cato Institute in April: "The NEA's modest grant budget substitutes individuals' preferences for those of committees, crowding out private provision, politicizing art, and violating freedom of conscience."