NASA appears to be the latest government website to purge its LGBTQ+ content amid Trump’s crackdown on DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) programmes, after several resources and blogs were taken down.
Archives of NASA’s official government website sent to PinkNews revealed that several pages have either been modified or taken down completely to remove mentions of the LGBTQ+ community, Women’s History Month, Black History Month, or DEI initiatives.
One page, formerly called the “Diversity at NASA” news section, has had its name changed to “special observations,” while several DEI resources appear to have been removed completely from its news list, including interviews with Black and female NASA employees.
Another page – an 8 July 2024 blog post titled “NASA has Pride across the Universe” – appears to have been removed completely, with the unarchived link now showing a 404 “page not found” error message.
The now inaccessible blog post showcased an imitation of the Progress Pride flag created by NASA employee Rachel Lense using various images taken by NASA, including photos of Mars, Jupiter, and Neptune. It was created, NASA writes, to “celebrate diversity within the queer community and the need for continued progress toward inclusion and acceptance in society.”
The apparent removal of the pages likely comes as part of US president Donald Trump’s continued campaign against DEI initiatives in public and private organisations.
The 78-year-old signed an executive order in January directing government chiefs to scrap DEI policies and initiatives and to scrub mentions of DEI, LGBTQ+ content, and other initiatives for marginalised groups from government websites.
Resources removed from various websites include vital resources on HIV prevention, social security support, data from the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), and other crucial pages.
NASA was reportedly among the organisations ordered to begin scrubbing mentions of DEI from its pages, according to 404 Media, which was anonymously handed a directive sent to civil servants ordering them to remove related keyphrases such as “DEIA,” “Indigenous People,” and “Underrepresented groups/people.”
“Per NASA HQ direction, we are required to scrub mentions of the following terms from our public sites by 5pm ET today,” the directive read. “This is a drop everything and reprioritise your day request.”
Stonewall National Monument scrubs mentions of Marsha P Johnson
As part of the DEI rollback, the Trump administration removed all references to transgender or non-binary people from the Stonewall National Monument’s official website, including Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera.
The New York monument, which commemorates the historic 1969 riot outside the Stonewall Inn, led by trans women of colour, is an integral part of the historic pushback against homophobic legislation of the 1900s.
Following Trump’s executive order, the website’s description replaced all uses of the acronym “LGBTQ+” with the acronym “LGB” and now only mentions lesbian, gay, and bisexual people in its explanation of the riots.
The move caused immense backlash against the government for trying to “erase our history.” A protest was held in February outside the monument to condemn the change.
“Trans people have been here since the beginning of time,” Tanya Asapansa-Johnson Walker, a prominent activist, said during the protest. “We fought in all the wars. We’re creators. We have families and children. We are just as much a part of this world as anyone else.”
Over 31,000 people signed a petition urging the government to reverse its active erasure of historical figures like Marsha P. Johnson, calling it “shocking and unjust.”
At the time of reporting, the Stonewall National Monument continues to erase trans people from history.
PinkNews has contacted NASA for comment.
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