Various pages about LGBTQ rights and lives in the U.S. have been wiped from the official White House site, LGBTQ media advocacy organization GLAAD has reported.
Whitehouse.gov received a makeover on Inauguration Day, and not only in looks. Information shared by the Biden administration has been deleted and replaced with profiles on Trump administration officials and his day one actions. The deleted information includes pages about the LGBTQ community. Various search terms, like "lesbian," "gay," and "bisexual," only contain a single result: a rollback of Biden-era executive orders, including "Advancing Equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Individuals" from 2022.
"Transgender" turns up two results, the aforementioned and Trump's new executive order stating, among other things, that there are only two genders.
"LGBTQ" turns up no results. Some pages removed, according to GLAAD and confirmed by Mashable, include:
the White House's equity report (current 404 page)
fact sheet on expanding HIV medication access (current 404 page)
the Department of State's LGBTQ Rights page (current 404 page)
the Department of Labor's page on LGBTQ policy (current 404 page)
Other removed pages Mashable found include a fact sheet on the accomplishments of LGBTQ Americans (current 404 page) and a proclamation on Pride Month 2024 (current 404 page).
This move aligns with actions Trump promised to do during his inaugural speech, including removing diversity programs and creating an official policy that there are only two genders.
"President Trump claims to be a strong proponent of freedom of speech, yet he is clearly committed to censorship of any information containing or related to LGBTQ Americans and issues that we face," GLAAD's president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement. Ellis refers to Trump stating yesterday that he will "bring back" free speech.
"This action proves the Trump administration's goal of making it as difficult as possible for LGBTQ Americans to find federal resources or otherwise see ourselves reflected under his presidency," she continued. "Sadly for him, our community is more visible than ever; and this pathetic attempt to diminish and remove us will again prove unsuccessful."
