CDC webpages on sexual, gender identity, health equity removed

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has removed over a dozen web pages from its website, including resources related to sexual and gender identity, health equity, and disability. The removal of these pages was directed by the Health and Human Services Department (HHS), which oversees the CDC.

According to an internal CDC email, the agency was instructed to take down the pages by September 19. The email did not provide a reason for the removal, but the topics of the affected pages have been targeted by the Trump administration in the past. The administration has issued executive actions limiting the rights of transgender and nonbinary individuals and rolled back efforts to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Impact on Marginalized Communities

Health equity advocates are concerned that the removal of these resources will create gaps in access to critical health information, particularly for marginalized groups. The CDC’s website is a trusted source of information for many individuals, and the removal of these pages may undermine efforts to promote equitable care. A spokesperson for the LGBT PA Caucus, a nonprofit promoting LGBTQ+ health-care equity, stated that “stripping away resources on gender identity does not erase the need, it only erodes trust, creates confusion, and places patients at greater risk.”

The affected pages include information on sexually transmitted infections and gay men, health equity for people with disabilities, and fact sheets on asexuality and bisexuality. The removal of these pages may have significant consequences for individuals who rely on the CDC’s website for accurate and inclusive guidance.

Previous Removals and Litigation

This is not the first time the Trump administration has targeted health resources on federal agency websites. In January, thousands of pages were removed from the CDC and FDA websites under an executive order barring references to gender identity. A federal judge later ordered the agencies to temporarily restore public access to the pages, and in July, the judge ruled that the government had unlawfully ordered the removal of the health resources.

Following the ruling, the Trump administration reported that most agencies had finished restoring the affected pages, with 185 back in compliance and only 11 CDC pages still under review. However, it is unclear how many of the pages taken down in September were at issue in the lawsuit.

Current Status of Affected Pages

It is unclear which pages were still under review as of September 19, and why the CDC took down additional pages on the same day. A spreadsheet attached to the internal CDC email listed over a dozen pages that had been taken down, and a separate spreadsheet compiled by agency employees included an additional site that appears to be offline. CNBC verified that several pages are now offline, including a page on health equity for people with disabilities, which was last active on August 27 according to the Wayback Machine.