A sweeping change across U.S. government websites marked an effort to adhere to recent executive orders issued by President Donald Trump's administration. These orders mandate the recognition of only two genders and call for the conclusion of diversity and inclusion initiatives, sparking a reorganization of digital content across several federal agencies. The move has led to widespread alterations and removals of web pages, as outlined in a directive from the Office of Personnel Management released earlier this week.
The directive instructs government agencies to discontinue grants and contracts associated with 'gender ideology'. It further directs staff to remove gender pronouns from official communications and disband departmental resource groups focused on diversity issues. The document also specified the substitution of the term 'gender' with 'sex' in government documentation, with an implementation deadline of 5 p.m. on the following Friday.
Several notable changes and disruptions to online government resources have already been noted:
- National Park Service: Websites featuring information on significant sites such as those related to the Japanese American internment, the Tuskegee Airmen, and the Stonewall Uprising went offline. Although the Tuskegee Airmen page was soon restored, others remained inaccessible.
- State Department: The option for an X gender marker was removed from consular application forms, with 'gender' replaced by 'sex'. A travel page, initially targeted toward LGBTQIA+ travelers, was retitled as 'LGBTravelers'.
- U.S. Census Bureau: Visitors to the homepage encountered issues accessing reports related to gender identity and sexual orientation, with the site citing maintenance. Previous records confirm availability in the preceding week.
- Office of the Director of National Intelligence: Documents from the Intelligence Community Inspector General have been purged from the official site. This action is part of broader changes within the agency.
- Bureau of Prisons: Alterations were made to the 'Inmate Gender' page, now renamed 'Inmate Sex', omitting any breakdown of transgender inmate demographics.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Key public health information, including HIV resources and supportive educational materials, were withdrawn. The agency is aligning its content with the executive order before resumption.
- Department of Defense: An order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth halted the recognition of heritage and awareness months focused on racial and cultural identities, affecting schedules and commemorations of these events.
The shifts have been met with varying public reactions, highlighting the complex and contentious nature of identity politics in the U.S. administration's strategy. Content adjustments are ongoing as agencies strive to meet the stipulated guidelines, impacting a wide range of resources previously available online.