Report: LGBT activist groups helped shape Biden DOJ civil rights agenda

Prominent LGBT activist groups played a role in shaping the agenda of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Rights Division under former President Joe Biden by submitting agenda items and requesting federal action against state laws, according to internal documents The Daily Signal discovered.

The outlet reported Oct. 18 that the DOJ’s LGBTQI+ Working Group held quarterly stakeholder meetings with groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal, the National Women’s Law Center, and Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The SPLC has since been indicted on 11 counts involving wire fraud, false statements to banks, and conspiracy to conceal money laundering, as Zeale News previously reported. 

According to the newly disclosed materials, the activist groups submitted specific agenda items for discussion, including requests to address “what the federal government can do to limit or stop anti-trans legislation,” “strategic involvement by DOJ,” litigation involving gender medicine, and “protections for LGBTQI+ students and teachers in schools.” 

The Daily Signal noted that it could not independently confirm that any particular DOJ filing, investigation, or enforcement action resulted directly from a recommendation submitted through the meetings.

In remarks at an Oct. 5, 2023, stakeholder meeting, then-Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, who led the Civil Rights Division, directly addressed the groups’ concerns. She told them she would “discuss the agenda items you shared with us, including limiting or stopping anti-trans legislation,” and noted that some of the organizations represented plaintiffs in lawsuits the DOJ supported.

Clarke also stated that “anti-trans and anti-gay sentiments are fueled, at least in part, by the very state actions we challenge here at the Division, including bans on gender affirming care, bathroom use, and transgender girls’ right to participate in sports,” according to the Daily Signal.

The records also identified meeting participants from other federal agencies, including the Departments of Defense, Education, and Health and Human Services.

The DOJ publicly acknowledged the stakeholder meetings at the time. In a June 30, 2023, readout, the DOJ said its inaugural quarterly gathering included discussions of violence, legislation, federal funding, and intersex awareness. Officials from several federal agencies, including the Department of Education, attended.

DOJ staff also prepared a background memo for Clarke summarizing concerns raised by the Transgender Law Center about federal hate crime enforcement. The group argued that hate crime laws expand policing and incarceration without addressing the underlying problems affecting LGBT people, according to the Daily Signal.

“The LGBTQI+ working group prepared this memo to provide AAG Clarke with background information about … the Transgender Law Center’s position on the federal government’s hate crimes enforcement, before AAG Clarke’s opening remarks at the third quarterly LGBTQIA+ stakeholder meeting,” the memo reportedly stated.

The latest revelations build on earlier reporting of close coordination between the Biden DOJ and left-leaning organizations. According to the New York Post, the SPLC helped train DOJ prosecutors and received special access to federal hate crime databases to help draft talking points under the Biden administration. 

The DOJ closed the LGBTQI+ Working Group shortly after President Donald Trump took office in 2025, according to the Daily Signal. 

DOJ spokeswoman Kiersten Pels told the outlet that under the Biden administration “far-left activist groups were given a seat at the table in shaping the Civil Rights Division’s priorities.” 

“Under this administration,” she added, “the division enforces federal civil rights laws as written, for every American equally, and its litigation and enforcement decisions are not shaped by outside activists.” 

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