Hundreds of federal surveys have removed questions tied to sexual orientation and gender identity, according to a new report from the Williams Institute, which cites President Trump’s executive orders as the reason.
The report cites the scrubbing of the questions as made by “non-substantative change requests.” This means that the removal requests lacked a valid reason or evidence to back up the rationale. Only a few of the request changes were made through the formal notice-and-comment process.
The research found the majority of the removal requests were made for questions on gender identity in pursuance with Trump’s Executive Order 14,168. Signed on January 20, 2025, this executive order claims to defend women from gender ideology and extremism, and promises to restore “biological truth” to the federal government.
The impact of this scrubbing is significant. These questions are essential in research settings to better understand the needs and vulnerabilities of LGBTQ+ people, as well as how to address them, according to the Williams Institute, a prominent think tank at the UCLA School of Law.
“Federal data on sexual orientation and gender identity are essential for understanding LGBTQ populations in the United States,” said lead author Lauren Bouton, policy fellow and research analyst at the Williams Institute, in a statement. “These data allow us to identify disparities in health, economics, and exposure to violence among a group that’s been shown to be disproportionately at risk of these outcomes. Only then can we begin to address those realities with solutions such as more effective programming and the allocation of resources.”
The presence of these questions also make LGBTQ+ people more visible to the federal government in terms of numbers, so that on a greater scale, more funding can be allocated to the community to address specific needs.
“Reliable data collection is fundamental to how the federal government identifies and responds to community needs,” said co-author Elana Redfield, federal policy director at the Williams Institute. “Eliminating SOGI [sexual orientation and gender identity] measures weakens the government’s ability to track disparities and document and prevent discrimination. The full impact will become clearer over time as existing data becomes outdated and new data is no longer collected.”
Since entering a second term last year, the Trump administration has scrubbed mentions of LGBTQ+ people and issues across federal websites and reports. The removal of a Pride flag at the Stonewall Inn national monument in New York earlier this month sparked protests, a lawsuit, and a re-raising of the banner.
This article was written as part of the Future of Queer Media fellowship program at The Advocate, which is underwritten by a generous gift from Morrison Media Group. The program helps support the next generation of LGBTQ+ journalists.
