Health data, entire pages wiped from federal websites as Trump officials target ’gender ideology’

Public health data disappeared from websites, entire webpages went blank and employees erased pronouns from email signatures Friday as federal agencies scrambled to comply with a directive tied to President Donald Trump’s order rolling back protections for transgender people. The Office of Personnel Management directed agency heads to strip “gender ideology” from websites, contracts and emails in a memo sent Wednesday, with changes ordered to be instituted by 5 p.m. Friday. Much public health information was taken down from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website: contraception guidance; a fact sheet about HIV and transgender people; lessons on building supportive school environments for transgender and nonbinary kids; details about National Transgender HIV Testing Day; a set of government surveys showing transgender students suffering higher rates of depression, drug use, bullying and other problems. The directive, from the acting head of the Bureau of Management, said this was required to comply with Mr. Trump’s executive orders and that the department was also removing all references to “gender ideology” from websites and internal documents.