WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has prohibited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from using certain words in their official documents. Among them: transgender.
Media reports on Friday evening said that the administration had a list of seven words that could no longer be used in official documents for next year’s budget. The Washington Post reported that the words are “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “fetus,” “evidence-based” and “science-based.”
From the Post:
In some instances, the analysts were given alternative phrases. Instead of “science-based” or “evidence-based,” the suggested phrase is “CDC bases its recommendations on science in consideration with community standards and wishes,” the person said. In other cases, no replacement words were immediately offered.
The question of how to address such issues as sexual orientation, gender identity and abortion rights — all of which received significant visibility under the Obama administration — has surfaced repeatedly in federal agencies since President Trump took office. Several key departments — including Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC, as well as Justice, Education, and Housing and Urban Development — have changed some federal policies and how they collect government information about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.
This is the latest move by the administration against the LGBTQ community. The Post reported that in the past year the Department of Health and Human Services had removed references to the LGBTQ community off their website not long after the inauguration. A CDC spokeswoman hadn’t responded to the newspaper by Friday evening.
An analyst told the Post that they had never gotten any ideological pushback before. The news hadn’t reached most CDC scientists, but a backlash is expected. “Our subject matter experts will not lay down quietly — this hasn’t trickled down to them yet,” said the analyst speaking on the condition of anonymity.
