The University of Maryland’s Lavender Lab, a research initiative focused on health outcomes among LGBTQ+ individuals and people of color, is under scrutiny following a civil rights complaint alleging race-based discrimination in its operations. The Equal Protection Project (EPP) filed the complaint with the Department of Health and Human Services, asserting that the lab’s LGBTQ+ Teens of Color Advisory Board and its research assistant selection processes may illegally prioritize non-White applicants. This complaint comes despite the lab having received substantial federal funding, including nearly $700,000 from the Trump administration for research on alcohol and drug use among sexual minority adolescents of color. The EPP highlights the lab’s explicit recruitment for the advisory board of teens identifying as both LGBTQ+ and BIPOC, and its stated preference for research assistant candidates with experience in LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities through culturally sensitive approaches. EPP founder William Jacobson argues that federal funding prohibits race-based discrimination in program administration, regardless of the targeted group, and contends that the lab’s focus on intersectionality, which examines how various identity factors like race and sexual orientation intersect to influence health, could be contributing to these alleged civil rights violations. The complaint seeks an investigation into whether the lab’s practices violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the Affordable Care Act, and calls for tighter federal regulations on funding for intersectionality-focused research to prevent similar issues.
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