Government websites alter LGBTQ+ language, remove mentions of trans and intersex people

People who are not heterosexual or cisgender have been referred to as LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) since the 1990s. In order to include intersex people, the acronym has more recently been broadened to LGBTQIA.

Several federal departments are deleting the last half of the acronym that acknowledges trans and intersex people, or deleting entire websites that reference LGBTQ people, two weeks after President Donald Trump announced a number of executive orders targeting trans people.

According to NBC News, the State Department’s website that provides LGBTQIA+ prospective parents with adoption information actually only lists LGB individuals.

Additionally, there used to be a page on the federal Social Security Administration’s website called “Social Security for LGBTQI+ People.” Now that it says LGBQ People, transgender and intersex people are essentially left out.

Social Security for LGBTQI+ People was the name of a previous page on the federal Social Security Administration’s website. It now reads LGBQ People, excluding intersex and transgender individuals.screenshot

Some organizations have removed all LGBTQ+ mentions from their websites.

For instance, NBC reported that the Justice Department’s webpage regarding an LGBTQ+ working group and a page about tobacco use among LGBTQ individuals were taken down, as was the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website.

The Commerce Department’s LGBTQ program and information on preventing sexual orientation discrimination were also removed from the Labor Department’s website, according to NBC.

According to Nate Shalev, a transgender person and former Bulls Head inhabitant, the goal is to eradicate trans people by definition, so you can’t have any kind of federal recognition.

They previously expressed their fear for young people who identify as transgender to Advance/SILive.com.

For anyone attempting to navigate and become human in the world, growing up is really difficult. It is extremely harmful to know this about oneself and be unable to change it, such as by not being able to play sports, get gender-affirming care, or feel good about oneself in public. Shalev, an inclusiveness expert, advisor, and speaker based in Brooklyn and the owner of Reveal Impact, added, “I’m really worried about trans kids being able to make it out of this, period.”

According to NBC, an Office of Personnel Management spokeswoman shared a memo directing all federal agencies to implement Trump’s gender ideology edict. According to the source, the memorandum directed agencies to remove any externally visible material (websites, social media profiles, etc.) that propagate or instill gender ideology by Friday at 5 p.m.

Executive orders targeting trans and intersex people

Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government was one of the first executive orders that Trump signed on the first day of the administration. The measure declares that males are biologically male and women are physiologically female, forbids the propagation of gender ideology, and acknowledges only two sexes. Additionally, it asserts that these sexes are based on fundamental and unquestionable reality and cannot be altered.

Additionally, the executive order mandates that only men and women be recognized on official identity forms by all federal personnel and agencies. As a result, anyone whose gender on a passport, visa, or Global Entry card is X must have it changed to either male or female, or else they run the risk of being denied entry and exit to the nation.

Additionally, the executive order prohibits the use of federal funds to advance gender ideology, which it claims replaces the biological category of sex with a constantly evolving concept of self-assessed gender identity. This allows the false claim that men can identify as women and vice versa, and all institutions of society are required to accept this false claim as fact.

Contrary to recent court rulings, the order also prohibits the Bureau of Prisons from providing trans detainees with transition-related medical care. Trump has also signed other later orders that target transgender persons, such as one that prohibits gender-affirming medical treatments for those under the age of 19.

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