On Friday, numerous federal agencies faced a sudden overhaul of their online and internal communications, in light of a directive connected to President Donald Trump’s order that seeks to diminish protections for transgender individuals. The Office of Personnel Management issued a memo earlier in the week, instructing agency leaders to eliminate references to “gender ideology” from official websites, contracts, and emails by a 5 p.m. deadline. The memo also mandated the dissolution of employee resource groups, and the cancellation of grants or contracts related to gender issues, along with substituting the term “gender” with “sex” on government forms.
As a result, many government websites displayed error messages stating, “The page you’re looking for was not found,” and various pages became temporarily inaccessible. Trump’s response to queries from reporters regarding the removal of diversity, equity, and inclusion mentions from government platforms was ambiguous, yet he expressed support for such actions. “I don’t know. That doesn’t sound like a bad idea to me,” Trump remarked, referring to his campaign promises to dismantle such initiatives.
A significant amount of public health information was deleted from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website. Missing materials included contraception guidance, facts concerning HIV and transgender individuals, educational resources for creating supportive environments for transgender and nonbinary youth, information related to National Transgender HIV Testing Day, and survey data indicating higher rates of depression, bullying, and substance abuse among transgender students. Experts in infectious diseases warned that the removal of such crucial health resources creates gaps in vital scientific data, and the Infectious Diseases Society of America voiced concerns, stating that accessible resources are essential for combating the HIV epidemic.
In the Bureau of Prisons, a web page previously titled “Inmate Gender” was changed to “Inmate Sex,” removing statistical information about transgender inmates from sight. Similarly, the State Department discontinued the option for nonbinary applicants to select “X” as a gender in passport applications, replacing “gender” with “sex” in descriptive contexts. Employees within the department were directed to eliminate gender-specific pronouns from their email signatures in adherence to the new guidelines, as stated in an order from Thomas Nagy, the acting head of the Bureau of Management. This directive underscored the urgency for compliance as they adjusted to the new requirements.
A representative from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) revealed that staff had been instructed to highlight the usage of the term “gender” in thousands of awarded contracts, a standard inclusion in contracts warning against gender discrimination. Speaking anonymously due to concerns over possible repercussions from administration policies, this official indicated an underlying fear that initiatives focused on inclusion, gender issues, and women’s concerns could be disproportionately affected under the new executive orders.
Additionally, certain pages on the Census Bureau and the National Park Service websites became inaccessible or returned error messages during this period of change. On his first day back in office, Trump signed an executive order demanding that the federal government define sex strictly as male or female, mandating this to be reflected on all official documents, including passports and federal prison assignments. In a further shift, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a halt to the military’s acknowledgment of identity shortly before the beginning of Black History Month in February, citing concerns that such recognition could undermine group solidarity and mission effectiveness.
