Equal Protection Project Files Bias Complaint Over $3.6 Million UMD Lab Grant

1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 24

A federal civil-rights complaint asks HHS to investigate whether the University of Maryland’s Lavender Lab used race or ethnicity in selecting paid advisory-board members and research assistants.
The Equal Protection Project points to a teen advisory board seeking applicants who are both LGBTQ+ and BIPOC, and to hiring language saying candidates from marginalized backgrounds and with LGBTQ/BIPOC research experience would get the strongest consideration.
The NIH-funded lab studies suicide, substance use and other health outcomes among LGBTQ+ people and people of color; one flagship project on sexual-minority adolescents of color runs from May 2022 through April 2027.
Federal records cited in the complaint show about $3.6 million in obligations, roughly $2.2 million in outlays, and another $695,192 awarded for fiscal 2026.
Jacobson argues the practices could violate Title VI and the Affordable Care Act, while also urging tighter federal limits on grant-funded intersectionality programs; UMD, HHS and the White House did not immediately comment.