The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) started to remove language related to gender identity and sexual orientation in accordance with an executive order that President Donald Trump signed on Inauguration Day.
Newsweek reached out to the CDC for comment by email on Friday night.
The Context
On Inauguration Day, Trump signed an executive order titled “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism And Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government.” The order mandated that his administration would use “clear and accurate language and policies that recognize women are biologically female, and men are biologically male.”
The federal government will also use the word “sex” instead of “gender” with all official documents, including passports, visas and Global Entry cards, “accurately reflect the holder’s sex.”
“Agencies are no longer going to promote gender ideology through communication forms and other messages,” a Trump administration official told reporters at the time, adding that “federal funds shall not be used to promote gender ideology.”
What To Know
Several websites related to topics of gender identity and sexual orientation have been taken down on the CDC website as of Friday evening. The CDC did not say how long these pages would be down, or how many pages may be impacted by these changes.
Impacted webpages include “Health Disparities Among LGBTQ Youth” and “Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth,” which remain search results on Google but once opened only bring up a page saying “The page you’re looking for was not found.” The webpage suggests trying the CDC archives or the A-Z index.
The archives only bring up former documents that may include references to these topics.
According to the Associated Press, other pages affected by these changes include contraception guidance, a fact sheet about HIV and transgender people, lessons on building supportive school environments for transgender and nonbinary children and details about National Transgender HIV Testing Day.
“Atlas Plus,” an interactive tool that let users analyze CDC data on HIV, STDs, TB and viral hepatitis, was also taken down, according to CNN.
The Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) on its website posted a statement that slammed the decision to take down these pages as one that “creates dangerous gaps in scientific information.”
“This is especially important as diseases such as HIV, mpox, sexually transmitted infections and other illnesses threaten public health and impact the entire population,” the statement read. “Timely and accurate information from the CDC guides clinical practice and policies, which are essential for controlling infections and safeguarding health.”
The HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA) issued the same statement on its website, which can be read in full below.
What People Are Saying
Not everyone is alarmed by the changes.
Conservative influencer Nick Sortor posted on X, formerly Twitter, a screenshot of one of the downed webpages, cheering that the “Transgender and Gender Diverse Persons” page is offline, saying: “Woke ‘science’ is OUT. Real science is IN!” with a flame emoji.
The HIV Medicine Association and Infectious Disease Society of America issued a joint statement that read: “The removal of HIV- and LGBTQ-related resources from the websites of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health agencies is deeply concerning and creates a dangerous gap in scientific information and data to monitor and respond to disease outbreaks. Access to this information is crucial for infectious diseases and HIV health care professionals who care for people with HIV and members of the LGBTQ community and is critical to efforts to end the HIV epidemic. This is especially important as diseases such as HIV, mpox, sexually transmitted infections and other illnesses threaten public health and impact the entire population. Timely and accurate information from the CDC guides clinical practice and policies, which are essential for controlling infections and safeguarding health.”
Jennifer Nuzzo, Director of the Pandemic Center and Professor of Epidemiology at the Brown University School of Public Health, wrote on X: “I am disheartened that several CDC webpages are currently down. I hope this is just a temporary pause. Infectious diseases don’t take breaks. The American taxpayers who paid for these data deserve the ability to access the lifesaving information derived from these data.”
Miguel Hernan, Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the Harvard TH Chan School, wrote on X: “The CDC’s page for HIV data has vanished. Who benefits from this? In what universe does this help the country?”
It should be noted that the main HIV page on the CDC is active again, but it was temporarily impacted.
What Happens Next
The CDC will continue to adhere to the Trump administration’s policy, as will other federal agencies and departments. The full impact of that policy remains to be seen, as many did not expect the CDC to remove these pages as part of compliance.
The post CDC Removes Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity Pages: What Advocates Said appeared first on Newsweek.
