The claim: Trump order cuts federal funding for cities that ‘promote, support or otherwise encourage LGBTQ activism’
A Jan. 21 Threads post (direct link, archive link) shows an image of an LGBTQ+ pride flag-themed police vehicle and claims to share an update from President Donald Trump about financial cuts for some municipalities.
“BREAKING: President Trump signs Executive Order cutting Federal funding to all city’s (sic) that: ‘promote, support or otherwise encourage LGBTQ activism,’” the post’s text reads.
The Threads post received more than 1,000 likes in a day. A similar version of the claim circulated widely on X.
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Our rating: False
The phrase quoted in the claim does not appear in any of the executive orders Trump issued when the post was shared. None of those orders reference any link between a city’s funding cuts and support of LGBTQ+ activism.
No record of quote in Trump’s executive orders
Trump marked his return to the presidency by issuing a flurry of executive orders, including directives that would remove protections for transgender people, roll back diversity, equity and inclusion programs across the federal government and restrict federal funds for so-called sanctuary cities. None of those directives, however, contain a cut in funding for cities that support or encourage activism from their LGBTQ+ communities.
Fact check: Tennessee bill to ban pride flag from schools didn’t pass state Senate
The posts shared to Threads and to X provide no evidence to support the claim, and the phrase they quote does not appear in any order issued by Trump when the posts were shared. While the action described in the claim would have been widely covered by legitimate media outlets, no such coverage exists.
“I haven’t seen that potential scenario described by anyone on behalf of the new administration,” said Jennifer Pizer, the chief legal officer for Lambda Legal, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group that has pledged a legal response to Trump’s executive orders.
One of the orders Trump issued Jan. 20 states that the federal government recognizes only two sexes and they were assigned at birth. That document also says federal funds “shall not be used to promote gender ideology.” But “gender ideology” – which both the Anti-Defamation League and GLAADcharacterize as a hate term because anti-LGBTQ+ activists use it to describe gender identity – is not the same thing as “LGBTQ activism.” The order does not reference any form of social activity, and its only mentions of the LGBTQ acronym appear in a list of publications targeted for rescission.
Additionally, Trump’s order targeting DEI initiatives makes no mention of the LGBTQ community or funding awarded to cities. And his order stripping access to federal funds from sanctuary cities – jurisdictions that do not fully comply with federal immigration enforcement efforts – does not include any reference to activism by the LGBTQ+ communities in those municipalities. None of the other orders issued by Trump during his first two days back in office reference LGBTQ+ issues.
USA TODAY previously debunked false claims that the World Economic Forum ordered pedophilia to be added to the LGBTQ+ acronym, that Idaho banned all pronouns in its schools and that billionaire Elon Musk called for a ban on pride flags in classrooms.
USA TODAY reached out to several social media users who shared the claim but did not immediately receive responses.
Our fact-check sources
- Jennifer Pizer, Jan. 22, Email exchange with USA TODAY
- The White House, Jan. 20, Defending women from gender ideology extremism and restoring biological truth to the federal government
- The White House, Jan. 20, Initial rescissions of harmful executive orders and actions
- The White House, Jan. 20, Protecting the American people against invasion
- The White House, accessed Jan. 22, Presidential actions
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