A federal judge has issued a nationwide preliminary injunction stopping the Trump administration from largely enforcing President Trump’s September executive order on diversity training.

The executive order forbids employee training by the federal government and federal contractors and subcontractors that addresses unconscious racist or sexual bias.

The court order issued by the U.S. District Court in San Jose Tuesday in Santa Cruz Lesbian and Gay Community Center et al. v. Trump et al., was in response to a suit filed by nonprofit community organizations and consultants serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and people living with the human immunodeficiency virus.

The injunction applies to government contractors and recipients of federal grants.

President-elect Joe Biden had been expected to issue his own executive order reversing the Trump order. The executive order had raised concern that it would upend many companies’ diversity training programs.

The court order said that the plaintiffs had established, contrary to the Justice Department’s position, that they had standing to file the litigation because they could show “injury in fact.”

Plaintiffs “have submitted evidence showing that a substantial portion of their funding comes from federal contracts and grants,” the ruling said.

They have contended that “training on unconscious bias is critical to Plaintiff’s missions and their work…Plaintiffs do not know whether they can continue with this critical training, or if it runs afoul” of the executive order.

The ruling states that “plaintiffs have demonstrated a likelihood of success in proving violations of their constitutional rights … Moreover, as the government itself acknowledges, the work Plaintiffs perform is extremely important to historically underserved communities.”  Their “ability to carry out their missions is impaired by the Executive order.”

Laura A. Mitchell, a principal with Jackson Lewis P.C. in Denver, said while some employers had moved forward in response to the executive order, “it really wasn’t activated yet for employers until it started showing up in contracts.”

While President-elect Biden may rescind the executive order, the injunction applies to any enforcement that may take place before he does so, she said.

Michael Sage, CEO of New York-based SAGE, which provides services and advocacy to LGBT elders, said in a statement, “This injunction could not come at a more crucial time.

“We have already had trainings canceled because of the threat of this executive order, trainings that are integral to SAGE’s ability to do its work on behalf of LGBT older adults in a meaningful and impactful way that recognizes explicitly the impact of systemic racism, sexism, and anti-LGBT bias on our communities and the country writ large.”

The statement was issued by the New York Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, which had represented plaintiffs in the case.

Government attorneys did not respond to a request for comment.