{"id":357719,"date":"2026-09-26T18:31:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T18:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/357719\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T18:31:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T18:31:12","slug":"federal-grant-for-nyc-veterans-prohibited-promotion-of-gender-ideology-per-trump-order","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/357719\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal Grant for NYC Veterans Prohibited Promotion of \u2018Gender Ideology,\u2019 Per Trump Order"},"content":{"rendered":"

A federal grant rejected by Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s administration<\/a> that would have funded shelter for homeless veterans in New York City included clauses prohibiting the promotion of \u201cgender ideology\u201d and \u201cdenial of the sex binary,\u201d which city officials say is why they pulled out of the longstanding program, The City Reporter has learned.<\/p>\n

City officials said Friday they exited the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs\u2019 Grant and Per Diem program<\/a> because the grant required them to comply with two of President Donald Trump\u2019s executive orders they feared would have forced them to discriminate against transgender veterans seeking shelter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

City officials also said the VA only awarded the city\u2019s Department of Homeless Services \u201ca small portion\u201d of its previous GPD awards.<\/p>\n

The City Reporter on Thursday broke the news<\/a> that DHS was leaving the program as of Oct. 1, the start of the federal fiscal year and the next three-year grant period. One city shelter, the Borden Avenue Veterans Residence in Long Island City, has received funding for beds through the GPD program for almost two decades.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A VA spokesperson said at the time that the city\u2019s claim around transgender veterans was \u201cfalse,\u201d noting the department \u201cdetermined that it could not justify a larger award\u201d than what it offered after evaluating the Borden Avenue facility \u201cbased on past performance, demonstrated need and ability to provide high-quality service to veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Friday, VA Press Secretary Quinn Slaven confirmed all VA grantees must adhere to one of the executive orders, \u201cDefending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government<\/a>,\u201d which Trump signed on the first day of his second term in office in January 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Slaven said in a statement that the city \u201cvoluntarily withdrew from the grant process\u201d after learning of the award\u2019s \u201cterms and conditions.\u201d The statement did not mention the second executive order identified by city officials or say whether GPD funds could be used to shelter trans vets, and he declined to comment further.<\/p>\n

After The City Reporter\u2019s article was published Thursday, Republican members of the City Council said they were seeking answers<\/a> about why the city gave up potentially millions of dollars in funding from the program, with the chair of the veterans committee demanding \u201ca full accounting\u201d of what happened.<\/p>\n

NYC Faced Reduction in Funding<\/p>\n

One part of the VA\u2019s funding offer to the city said \u201cgrantees may not utilize grant funds to promote \u2018gender ideology\u2019 as defined in Executive Order 14168 \u2018Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,\u201d according to language DHS provided to The City Reporter.<\/p>\n

Another part said \u201cgrantees may not utilize grant funds to promote, encourage, subsidize, or facilitate racial preferences, denial of the sex binary, illegal immigration, or other initiatives that compromise public safety or promote anti-American values, per Executive Order 14332 \u2018Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking.’\u201d Trump signed that order in August 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

DHS said these sections led it to believe it would be prohibited from placing trans male veterans at the Borden Avenue shelter in VA-funded beds. The city agency also said the grant was 30% of the amount it had received under the GPD program in the past, but did not provide a specific dollar figure. The Queens shelter serves more than 200 vets and relies on both federal and city funding.<\/p>\n

New York City has a decades-old right to shelter mandating public shelters generally accept anyone who needs a bed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a right-to-shelter city, we decided it was in the best interest of the veterans we serve to ensure access to shelter for all veterans experiencing homelessness,\u201d Neha Sharma, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeless Services, said in a statement Tuesday. \u201cThere has been no disruption to critical services for veterans residing at this site, and the city is actively assessing and planning next steps.\u201d<\/p>\n

City Council Turns Up Heat on Mamdani\u00a0<\/p>\n

In response to The City Reporter\u2019s reporting, Councilmember Frank Morano (R-Staten Island), who chairs the Council\u2019s veterans committee, called for more transparency from the Mamdani administration about why it rejected the funding and whether it considered other options.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe part that troubles me the most is that veterans who had nothing to do with this policy dispute are the ones who could lose the most,\u201d Morano said Friday. Protecting transgender veterans and preserving resources for other vets, he said, \u201cshouldn\u2019t be treated as mutually exclusive goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to know how much money New York City walked away from, what alternatives were explored before that decision was made, could they have continued to accept the grant and just challenged the aspect they found discriminatory,\u201d the councilmember added. \u201cThere should be a 0% chance we\u2019re talking about any veteran not having a bed because of this decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

DHS declined to comment on Morano\u2019s remarks and referred to its earlier statement about why it is withdrawing from the GPD program.<\/p>\n

Councilmember Joann Ariola (R-Queens) is also pressing for information from DHS and sent a letter Tuesday to Commissioner Erin Dalton asking why the agency ditched the program and requesting a response within two weeks. Ariola\u2019s office estimates the current grant amount is about $4 million a year for roughly 125 to 150 beds. If the latest grant award was worth 30% of the amount up until now, as DHS said, that means the city may be giving up more than $1 million a year for homeless veterans.<\/p>\n

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