The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has instructed its researchers to eliminate specific terms related to gender identity and sexual orientation from their scientific publications. Leaked internal communications reveal a list of approximately 20 prohibited words and phrases, including "gender," "transgender," "pregnant person," "LGBT," "non-binary," and variations of "assigned male/female at birth." The directive also mandates the removal of "they/them" pronouns.

This policy applies to manuscripts currently under review, those already accepted but not yet published, and affects both internal and external CDC publications. A CDC representative confirmed the changes align with President Trump's January 20th executive orders. These orders aim to eradicate "gender ideology extremism" within the federal government and reinstate a focus on "biological truth."

Following these executive orders, the Office of Personnel Management directed federal agencies to cease using taxpayer funds for programs promoting "gender ideology." This action follows previous executive orders from the Trump administration that have faced legal challenges from LGBT advocacy groups and medical organizations, particularly concerning restrictions on federal funding for transgender surgeries for individuals under 19.

Furthermore, CDC web pages offering support for LGBTQ+ youth and promoting HIV testing awareness within the transgender community have been taken down. Critics argue that removing these terms hinders the analysis of research and surveys that rely on them for demographic identification. Concerns have been raised about the potential impact on public health efforts and the representation of marginalized communities within scientific data.