The American Alliance for Equal Rights (AAER) announced that the state of Illinois has agreed to temporarily halt enforcement of a law requiring some nonprofits to disclose the race and ethnicity of their board members. The move comes as the group challenges Senate Bill 2930 in federal court, arguing the law violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
The agreement bars Illinois from enforcing the statute against two of the organization’s members while the case, American Alliance for Equal Rights v. Raoul (case no. 1:25-cv-00669), proceeds on appeal.
“We entered into a non-enforcement agreement with Illinois, which bars the State from enforcing S.B. 2930 against Members A and B until our preliminary injunction is resolved,” the American Alliance for Equal Rights said in an Oct. 31 press release.
AAER filed its opening appellate brief on Oct. 20. The state’s response is due Nov. 19, followed by AAER’s reply on Dec. 10.
Filed in January 2025, the lawsuit challenges Senate Bill 2930, a 2025 law requiring large nonprofits to publicly post aggregated demographic information about their officers and directors, including race, gender, disability, veteran status, and sexual orientation.
The measure was signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in June 2024.
AAER, led by activist Edward Blum, argues that the law compels speech and pressures organizations to make race-conscious decisions in board selection.
“This statute’s purpose is to force nonprofits to classify individuals by race and sex and to compel them to hire people by race and sex. It is clearly unfair and illegal,” Blum said when the lawsuit was filed. “Officers and board members of nonprofits should be selected based upon their individual talents, experience, and interests, not the color of their skin.”
The complaint was filed on behalf of two anonymous member nonprofits, which contend that the disclosure mandate forces them to collect and publish information that conflicts with their principles.
The U.S. Department of Justice intervened in March 2025, aligning with AAER’s position that the statute violates the Equal Protection Clause.
“The United States cannot and will not sit idly while a state denies its citizens equal protection under the guise of diversity,” Attorney General Bondi said in a statement. “Discrimination in all its forms is abhorrent and must be eliminated. The Department of Justice will continue to exercise its statutory right to intervene in cases whenever a state encourages DEI instead of merit.”
In August 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois dismissed the federal government’s claims for lack of standing and partially dismissed AAER’s complaint.
The court denied a preliminary injunction but acknowledged that AAER had raised a credible First Amendment concern over the requirement to ask “intrusive questions” about personal demographics.
AAER appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on Aug. 21, and enforcement of the law was stayed pending resolution of that appeal. The case is one of several nationwide efforts by the Alliance to challenge state and corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives following its successful opposition to race-conscious admissions in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.
