Oregon sues, says Trump transgender order requires it to discriminate

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Jan. 13 over grant funding conditions the state says require it to agree to discriminate against transgender people.

The lawsuit is Oregon’s first against the Trump administration in 2026. The state sued the administration 52 times in 2025.

“Oregon has worked hard to expand access to medical choice and make sure everyone can get the care they need,” Rayfield said in a statement. “This policy uses federal money to interfere with deeply personal medical decisions that belong to patients, families, and their doctors. Agencies shouldn’t be forced to take care away from people just to keep their funding.”

Eleven other states are parties to the suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island. They include New York, California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

The lawsuit targets what the states allege is “a novel and ambiguous funding condition” from HHS making receiving some grants dependent on the states following Title IX requirements, including the addition of a Trump executive order.

The order, “Defending women from gender ideology extremism and restoring biological truth to the federal government,” calls for the recognition of two sexes and says federal funding cannot “be used to promote gender ideology.”

The funding goes to federal grants for health, education and research, amounting to more than $300 million for the party states.

The suit argues requiring agreement to comply with the order as a term to receive funding goes against Oregon and other states’ laws that protect against discrimination because of gender identity.

The states’ complaint says HHS has violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the separation of powers and the Spending Clause with the funding requirements.

The suit asks for the gender conditions to be found unlawful and stopped from being enforced.

Oregon filed four suits in 2025 over gender affirming care or threats to funding over gender affirming language.

Anastasia Mason covers state government for the Statesman Journal. Reach her at acmason@statesmanjournal.com or 971-208-5615.