Inside Biden’s DOJ: How LGBTQ Activist Groups Helped Set the Agenda for the Civil Rights Division
18th October 2026
The DOJ Civil Rights Division’s LGBTQI+ Working Group convened quarterly stakeholder meetings with organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the National Women’s Law Center, and others while the department challenged state laws regarding transgender medicine, bathrooms, and women’s sports.
The newly revealed documents show advocacy groups asking federal officials to discuss “what the federal government can do to limit or stop anti-trans legislation,” “strategic involvement by DOJ,” litigation involving gender medicine, and other policy priorities.
“Under the Biden administration, far-left activist groups were given a seat at the table in shaping the Civil Rights Division’s priorities,” Justice Department spokeswoman Kiersten Pels told the Daily Signal. “Under this administration, 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.”
The documents do not portray the meetings as one-way briefings by federal officials.