The University of Maryland's Lavender Lab, which received nearly $700,000 in federal funding this year, faces a civil rights complaint from the Equal Protection Project alleging it uses race and ethnicity to determine access to research-related opportunities. The complaint centres on the lab's LGBTQ+ Teens of Colour Advisory Board and research assistant selection practices, which the complainant argues violate federal non-discrimination requirements for institutions receiving public funding.

The Lavender Lab, funded by the National Institutes of Health, studies health outcomes amongst LGBTQ+ people and people of colour, with approximately $3.6 million in total federal obligations and $2.2 million in outlays at the time of the complaint's filing. The complaint highlights that the advisory board specifically recruits teens identifying as both LGBTQ+ and Black, Indigenous or People of Colour (BIPOC), with members receiving payment for research review and feedback, whilst the lab encourages applications to its research assistant programme from "traditionally marginalised backgrounds" and notes applicants with relevant experience will receive "strongest consideration."