The Trump administration has withdrawn $120,000 in grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) tied to projects focused on LGBTQ-themed comics and multiethnic studies. The move affects grants originally approved under the former Biden regime.
One of the canceled grants was a $60,000 award to Margaret Alice Galvan, an English professor at the University of Florida. Her research project, “Comics in Movement,” aimed to examine “LGBTQ+” cartoonists in the 1980s and 1990s.
Another $60,000 grant had been awarded to Maite Urcaregui, an assistant professor at San José State University. Her book project, “Seeing Citizenship,” was intended to explore the relationship between race, citizenship, and political belonging within multiethnic graphic literature.
Although both grants still appear on the NEH website, the agency said they were terminated in April 2025 as part of staffing reductions and funding cuts tied to broader federal cost-cutting measures. The NEH said it is also taking steps to ensure future awards are merit-based and aligned with projects that promote an understanding of America’s founding principles.
“Both grants were awarded at the end of 2024, under the Biden administration, and terminated in April 2025,” the agency said.
The funding cuts are part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to scale back federal support for woke diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Federal officials have pushed agencies and institutions to review or eliminate DEI-related programming tied to taxpayer funding.