The US Department of Health, relevant departments and veteran hospitals have responded to the demand of the administration of former US President Donald Trump to halt programs promoting the “gender ideology.” According to the New York Times, this includes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) removing terms like “transgender” “immigrant” “LGBT” and “pregnant people” from its website.
By the evening of January 31, the deadline for health authorities, many terms and programs had been removed or restricted. The CDC’s website no longer included research data, materials on ending gender-based violence and support for LGBT youth, among other things. The AtlasPlus project, which had stored 20 years of surveillance data on HIV, tuberculosis and other diseases, was also affected.
Institution leaders have assured that the new rules will only impact attitudes and promotions and that health programs covering ethnic and racial minorities are not affected. However, experts warn that the ban on diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) measures could hinder support for disadvantaged groups, such as programs providing access to vaccines for low-income seniors.
Trump’s inauguration speech on January 20 stated that there would only be two genders in the US – male and female. On his first day as president, he signed an executive order titled “Protection of Women from Gender Ideological Extremism and Restoration of Biological Truth” and a series of other orders, which also canceled programs for diversity, equality and inclusivity within the US government.