The Trump administration’s latest move to dismantle diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives has sent a clear message: The Department of Justice is coming after businesses and institutions that promote DEI programs. But the organizations leading the charge for civil rights and disability inclusion say they’re not backing down.
Keep up with the latest in LGBTQ+ news and politics. Sign up for The Advocate's email newsletter.
A February 5 memo from Attorney General Pam Bondi outlines the administration’s directive to eliminate what it claims is “illegal DEI and DEIA discrimination and preferences.” Citing President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14173, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” the memo claims that DEIA initiatives “violate the text and spirit of our longstanding Federal civil-rights laws” and “undermine our national unity.”
Related: Pete Buttigieg blasts ‘despicable’ Donald Trump for blaming D.C. plane crash on DEI
The directive orders DOJ officials to identify industries where DEIA programs are most prominent, name what it calls the “most egregious and discriminatory” practitioners, and propose civil and criminal enforcement actions against them. It also directs the DOJ to work with the Department of Education to enforce compliance in federally funded schools and universities.
This latest escalation comes after Trump’s sweeping order from the White House just days into his second term when his administration directed federal agencies to terminate DEIA-related contracts and begin mass firings of employees working in DEIA roles. In a memo distributed on January 22 by Acting Office of Personnel Management Director Charles Ezell, agency heads were ordered to shutter DEIA offices and conduct layoffs of employees tied to those efforts. The administration called DEIA programs “wasteful” and accused them of dividing Americans by race.
Despite the aggressive stance, civil rights leaders and disability advocates say they are prepared to resist.
NAACP: This is “Jim Crow 2.0”
NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson didn’t mince words in response to the DOJ’s directive, calling it an attack on civil rights and a dangerous overreach by the administration.
Related: Trump revokes LBJ-era civil rights protections in federal government contracting
“Donald Trump and his administration are clearly confused about American values,” Johnson told The Advocate in a statement. “The Justice Department’s recent directives under Pam Bondi are a radical departure from history, and they are unconstitutional overreach. For an appointee from a party that supposedly believes in small government, it’s clear that this administration is willing to throw away historically rooted ideals in order to impose Jim Crow 2.0 rooted in hatred.”
“The NAACP will continue to exercise every tool at our disposal to protect the Constitution and our community,” Johnson added.
Easterseals: “Disability impacts all of us”
At Easterseals, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for people living with disabilities, which provides services for 1.5 million people annually, the DOJ’s move raises concerns about whether disability inclusion efforts could be caught in the administration’s crosshairs. But that’s not stopping the organization from doing its work.
“Everyone is affected in some way by disability: whether as someone who identifies as being disabled, along with more than 70 million Americans, or as someone who’s part of immediate or extended family, a friend, or a colleague who is disabled—disability impacts all of us,” Easterseals president and CEO Kendra Davenport told The Advocate.
For over a century, Easterseals has provided services for people with disabilities, aging adults, and veterans. And despite shifting political winds, Davenport says the organization’s commitment isn’t changing.
Related: Trump’s Project 2025 White House orders mass firings of DEI employees across federal government
“We have operated continuously under 19 Administrations, and we are confident we will forge a productive working relationship with the Trump Administration because issues that impact people with disabilities are bipartisan,” she said in a statement.
“We have persevered and evolved and innovated—expanding to provide additional services to older Americans and, after World War II, veterans—but our mission has not wavered,” she continued. “We will continue to do everything we can to help educate the public that disability is not a limitation on a person’s worth or potential and advocate for the rights of people with disabilities to work, go to school, raise families, and live their lives to the fullest.”
HRC slams DOJ’s “weaponization” of government
The Advocate also reached out to the Human Rights Campaign for comment on the DOJ directive. Vice president of Corporate Citizenship and Inclusive Technology Eric Bloem issued a scathing statement condemning the move.
“Pam Bondi’s memo to Department of Justice employees instructing them to weaponize the government against the private sector is an alarming escalation of the attack on workers,” Bloem wrote. “Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives open doors and remove barriers for people who have been historically left out of career opportunities and ensure that all workers have a fair opportunity to succeed. Businesses have built and relied upon proven inclusion policies and best practices for decades because they lead to employee satisfaction, consumer loyalty, and shareholder value.
Related: Human Rights Campaign to lay off 20% of staff as LGBTQ+ organization restructures (exclusive)
Bloem added, “All Americans should be disturbed by the false insinuation that supporting workers is illegal and by Justice Department leadership that contradicts the agency’s mission of justice for all.”
HRC’s condemnation comes as the organization undergoes a major restructuring. On Tuesday, HRC announced that it was laying off approximately 20 percent of its workforce as part of a significant restructuring. The decision will take effect on February 12 and will eliminate around 50 positions.
DEIA advocates see the DOJ’s move for what it is: A fear tactic
For Tamisha Williams, a Black lesbian who has spent over a decade as a DEI director in educational spaces, the DOJ’s attack on DEIA initiatives is personal. Williams, who now works as an executive coach helping people prevent burnout and focus on wellness, says the administration is deliberately spreading misinformation and fueling fear.
“I don’t think that people will see the work as criminal in terms of its actual purpose,” Williams told The Advocate. “I think there is a lot of fear being sown because the work is being criminalized.”
Williams, who lives in Virginia with her wife, an educator, and their one-year-old daughter, says that the GOP has intentionally warped the public’s understanding of DEIA to justify rolling back hard-fought protections.
“They don’t realize that they’ve actually benefited from these programs,” she said. “If you’ve experienced a lack of access to a service or if you’ve experienced barriers, DEIA is about removing those so that you can have access.”
Related: These 13 major companies caved to the far right and stopped DEI programs
She compared DEIA policies to something most people don’t think twice about—automatic doors in buildings.
“When we put in automatic doors into places, people assume it’s just to benefit someone who uses a wheelchair,” she said. “But we actually know that kind of measure helps everybody because, at some point, we all need assistance getting into a place—whether we’re holding a box or we’ve broken a leg.”
Williams warned that beyond job losses and funding cuts, the DOJ’s move will have a devastating psychological effect, particularly on young people who are already navigating an increasingly hostile environment.
“There’s confusion among some of our youngest ones who are seeking to understand the world around them,” she said. “If we say our nation believes in justice, then why would we put someone in power who would do us harm?”
Williams also fears that people who need DEIA services the most will be discouraged from seeking help out of fear of being targeted.
Related: What is DEI, what does it mean, and why are companies really getting rid of it?
“Folks in need may find themselves getting more isolated,” she said. “Do I then seek out the services I need, or do I have a fear that if I seek out the services, somebody’s actually saying, ‘Ha, you thought you were coming to me, but now I’m going to turn you in?’”
Despite these concerns, Williams remains resolute.
“The backlash is going to come,” she said. “There’s nobody who’s fought for good who’s just had a clear path to do so. We have to acknowledge that and keep working. That’s why, for me, it’s so important that I keep myself steeped in really loving and affirming community so that when that backlash comes, I’m not feeling like I’m out on a ledge by myself.”
The law hasn’t changed
Despite the DOJ’s aggressive rhetoric, federal civil rights protections remain intact.
The U.S. Supreme Court’sBostock v. Clayton County ruling in 2020 confirmed that LGBTQ+ employees are protected from workplace discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The Americans with Disabilities Act continues to provide legal protections for people with disabilities in workplaces, schools, and public spaces. With the DOJ directive in place and the White House already pushing for other DEIA rollbacks, civil rights groups and disability advocates are bracing for a legal and political battle.
“This work has always been necessary, and this work has always been attacked,” Williams said. “Nobody who’s fought for good has had a clear path to do so. But we keep going.”
