The Trump administration reportedly informed multiple divisions within the Department of Health and Human Services ( HHS ) that they should avoid using certain words and phrases in official documents related to next year's budget, The Washington Post reported.
Officials at the Centers for Disease Control, the country's top public health agency, were banned from using seven words or phrasesincluding "fetus" and "transgender"in any official documents being prepared for the 2018 budget, according to The Washington Post.
The forbidden word list includes "vulnerable," "entitlement," "diversity," "transgender," "fetus," "evidence-based" and "science-based."
An official who participated in a briefing said that a second HHS agency received similar instructions in order to avoid using "entitlement," "diversity" and "vulnerable." At the State Department, meanwhile, certain documents now refer to sex education as "sexual risk avoidance."
In a press release, National LGBTQ Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey said her organization "will show this President he cannot ignore the transgender community, women, or scientific progress.
"The health, science, and justice communities are organizing together to demonstrate that federal funding for health and science matters. How the CDC runs is vital to our well-being. This is not just about freedom of speech: it's about our existence.
"The LGBTQ community is encouraged to #resist now. Tell@CDCgov, you can't ban my existence. I'm #transgender and proud. #CDCcensorship."
Shin Inouye, director of communications and media relations of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said in a separate press release, "President Trump and his administration have launched the latest salvo in their all-out war on truth and science. This latest tactic could be taken from a George Orwell novel, or taken by an oppressive authoritarian regime. Banning the use of words like transgender, science-based, and diversity will only harm the public health as the CDC carries out its important mission."
However, according to PBS Newshour, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald tweeted on Dec. 17 said there are "no banned words" while stressing the agency's commitment to data-driven science. At one point, she posted, "I want to assure you there are no banned words at CDC. We will continue to talk about all our important public health programs."
But in subsequent reporting, The New York Times cited "a few" CDC officials who suggested the move was not meant as an outright ban. Instead, it was a technique to help secure Republican approval of the 2019 budget by eliminating certain words and phrases.
The Post article is at www.washingtonpost.com . The PBS article is at https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/cdc-director-says-there-are-no-banned-words-at-the-agency.
Related information at www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Transgender-fetus-banned-from-CDC-reports-/61391.html .