Since January, Donald Trump’s crusade to get rid of anything he considers DEI—which appears to be literally everything that doesn’t specifically cater to white men—has resulted in devastating funding cuts to critical education, science, and research initiatives, including programs and grants for family planning and reproductive health. In April, for example, Trump froze funding for Title X providers, with one provider saying they were told their grant was frozen because they made a statement condemning racism following George Floyd’s death in 2020.
Now, it seems like some organizations are caving under the threat of the administration’s DEI chainsaw—regardless of how detrimental it might be to the communities they serve.
The country’s largest organization for sexual violence survivors, RAINN (the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network), removed over two dozen resources for marginalized groups from its official list of referrals, according to the New York Times. RAINN operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline and, since February, has banned its employees and volunteers from referring callers to places like the Immigrant Legal Resource Center or mental health hotlines specific for LGBTQ+ people, out of fear it’ll be considered promoting DEI and they’ll lose federal funding.
The hotline, which launched in 1994, helped over 460,000 callers in 2024. Statistically, immigrants and members of the LGBTQ+ community experience sexual violence at a disproportionately higher rate.
RAINN is funded in part by private donations, but it also has a contract worth millions with the Defense Department to run a hotline specifically for military members.
Hotline volunteers are understandably pissed, and sent a letter to the organization’s board of directors in February, urging them to instead figure out a plan for if they lose funding, rather than ban recommending resources for vulnerable communities.
“When trans, queer, Black, brown, Asian and undocumented survivors come to the hotline in crisis, we are not allowed to provide them with the same level of supportive care as other survivors,” the letter reads. “RAINN may face uncertain risks in the future if we stand by marginalized survivors, but we are certain to lose our values now if we do not stand with them today.”
The organization maintains that the decision was a precaution and hasn’t affected their mission or how they help callers. The Times reports:
Ms. Simmons Kaleba [RAINN’s vice president of communications] said in an interview that the executive orders had forced RAINN’s hand, and that people who filled out comment cards after contacting the hotline had not noted a decline in service. She added that RAINN had decided which resources to remove based on “guidance” from government officials, but declined to identify the officials or to describe what they had said, citing confidentiality agreements.
RAINN is not the only non-profit struggling to navigate Trump’s bullshit crusade. The National Sexual Violence Resource Center removed mentions of transgender people from its site in February, but then apologized for its “fear-based decision” and restored mentions. The Trevor Project is also currently trying to emergency fundraise so they won’t have to comply with the government if they end up losing federal funding.
In February, the Washington Post reported that RAINN removed all mention of transgender people from its website. It also deleted a page that featured stories by trans survivors, according to archives obtained by independent journalist Mady Castigan. None have been restored.
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