The organizers of an LGBTQ film festival in Phoenix have canceled the annual event “in direct response” to President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs at publicly funded institutions.
The nonprofit Desperado LGBTQ+ Film Festival is hosted by a student organization at Paradise Valley Community College, which receives federal funds. The festival’s mission, according to its website, is to showcase quality films that are related to the experiences of the LGBTQ+ community. The festival was first held in 2009, and the most recent — which included seven feature films and seven shorts — was held this past January.
“As a publicly funded institution, we must comply with these orders,” the festival’s organizers said in a statement shared on its website. “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. The loss of such funding would create a ripple effect, significantly affecting students, faculty, staff, the community, and the educational services we provide.”
President Trump’s DEI-related executive order called for the termination of diversity, equity and inclusion mandates, policies programs, preferences and activities in the federal government, describing these measures as “discriminatory.”
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Author: Faith Novak
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