Phoenix LGBTQ+ film fest canceled because of Trump's anti-DEI orders

The Desperado LGBTQ+ Film Festival at Paradise Valley Community College in Phoenix has canceled its 2026 edition due to Donald Trump’s executive orders against diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at institutions that receive federal funds.

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The 2026 event was to be the 17^th annual festival. The cancellation comes “with profound regret,” according to a statement on the festival website.

“This decision comes in direct response to recent presidential executive orders impacting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts at public institutions, including our community college district,” the statement says.

“As a publicly funded institution, we must comply with these orders. Failure to do so would jeopardize the district’s federal funding, including student financial aid and grants that support over 300 positions across our campuses,” it continues. “The loss of such funding would create a ripple effect, significantly affecting students, faculty, staff, the community, and the educational services we provide.”

“While we are heartbroken to pause this year’s event, we hope this is not a farewell but a momentary pause,” the statement concludes. “We look forward to the possibility of resuming the festival when conditions allow.”

Several lawsuits have been brought over Trump’s anti-DEI orders. In one, a federal judge in Maryland issued a nationwide injunction blocking key provisions of the orders in February, but an appeals court lifted that injunction in March.

The most recent Desperado festival was held in January. Films included Sally!, a documentary about lesbian feminist Sally Gearhart; Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story, a doc profiling a transgender soul singer of the mid-20^th century; Duino, a narrative film about an Argentinian filmmaker trying to finish a movie about his first love; and several others.

NBC News contacted the White House for comment on the cancellation, but spokesman Harrison Fields would not address it directly. Instead, in an email, he said Trump’s “reelection and the overall MAGA movement is a big tent welcome for all and home to a large swath of the American people” and that “the American people voted for a return to common sense, and the President is delivering on every campaign promise supported by 77 million voters and is ushering in our Golden Age.”