The Desperado LGBTQ+ Film Festival, a 16-year-old annual event hosted at Paradise Valley Community College in Phoenix, has been canceled in “direct response” to President Donald Trump’s executive order banning diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at federally funded schools.
The festival, held each January at the college’s Center for the Performing Arts, showcased films reflecting LGBTQ experiences and most recently featured seven feature films and seven shorts.
Trump’s order requires colleges to end all DEI programs or risk losing federal funding. Organizers said Paradise Valley Community College could not afford to jeopardize its funding.
“As a publicly funded institution, we must comply with these orders,” the festival’s organizers said in a statement on the festival’s 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.”
In response to an inquiry from NBC News, the White House did not answer specific questions about the festival’s cancellation. A spokesperson said in an email that Trump’s “re-election and the overall MAGA movement is a big tent welcome for all and home to a large swath of the American people.”
“The American people voted for a return to common sense, and the President is delivering on every campaign promise supported by 77 million voters and is ushering in our Golden Age,” spokesperson Harrison Fields said in the email.
Trump and many Republicans have criticized DEI programs as “discriminatory” against non-minority groups, arguing that they give opportunities based on identity rather than “merit.”
In response to Trump’s order, the Maricopa County Community College District — of which Paradise Valley Community College is a part — has begun disbanding DEI efforts, including an internal staff-led initiative focusing on inclusion. The college district has also ordered employees to remove gender pronouns from communications, altered restroom signage, and eliminated groups or events that celebrate or recognize different identities, reports GO magazine.
Following Trump’s order, the Maricopa County Community College District — which includes Paradise Valley Community College — has begun dismantling DEI efforts, including a staff-led inclusion initiative. The district has also told employees to remove gender pronouns from communications, changed restroom signage, and ended groups or events recognizing different identities, reports GO magazine.
Organizers expressed hope that the film festival could one day return, likely funded through private donations rather than federal money, and possibly at a new venue.
“We are heartbroken to pause this year’s event,” organizers said, referring to next January’s festival. “But we hope this is not a farewell — only a momentary pause. We look forward to the possibility of resuming the festival when conditions allow.”
Although the Desperado LGBTQ+ Film Festival generated less than $10,000 a year, organizers said its impact reached far beyond revenue.
“For many years, there was no queer film festival presence in the Phoenix area,” said Dale Heuser, a faculty member at Paradise Valley Community College and the festival’s co-coordinator. “Desperado helped fill that void for 16 remarkable years, and we are proud of the space it provided for dialogue, celebration and connection.”
"Well, darlings... The curtain falls, the spotlight dims, and the rhinestones are packed," wrote former U.S. Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) on X Thursday evening. "From the halls of Congress to the chaos of cable news, what a ride it's been! Was it messy? Always. Glamorous? Occasionally. Honest? I tried... most days."
Hours later, the openly gay ex-congressman -- ever the drama queen to the end -- reported to federal prison to begin serving a seven-year sentence for fraud and identity theft.
Santos was sentenced in April to 87 months in prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He was ordered to pay $374,000 in restitution and forfeit more than $205,000 he earned through fraud.
A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from enforcing a directive from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that prohibits transgender and nonbinary individuals from obtaining passports reflecting their gender identities.
Rubio's directive, issued in January, had instructed State Department staff to freeze all applications for passports with "X" gender markers or applications requesting changes to gender markers on existing passports.
Rubio also directed his subordinate to enforce a section of the Immigration and Nationalist Act that allows the United States to refuse entry to any visa applicant who commits identity fraud or misrepresents who they are, with particular focus on transgender athletes from foreign countries.
State has 10 days to ban transgender athletes from girls’ teams or risk losing federal education funding, under a Title IX ultimatum from the Education Department.
The Trump administration has issued an ultimatum to the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation, demanding they ban transgender athletes from competing on girls' sports teams.
In a June 25 announcement, the U.S. Department of Education said California’s policy allowing transgender girls to compete on girls' teams violates Title IX, the 1972 law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in federally funded educational institutions.
The department also proposed a resolution requiring California to bar transgender athletes from girls' sports teams and revoke any records, titles, or awards they’ve received. It further calls on the state to send personalized apology letters to female athletes who were denied honors or recognition after being displaced by a transgender competitor.
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