Sites that provided LGBTQ services have gone missing as part of what seems to be an effort by the Trump administration to revamp the federal government’s online presence.
Government websites that address harassment and discrimination are inaccessible to students and employees who identify as members of sexual and gender minorities.
In the first week of President Trump’s administration, several federal agencies, including the Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, unexpectedly lost portions of their websites, according to a survey by U.S. News.
In the early hours of Wednesday and Thursday, two websites—one from the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on safeguards for LGBTQ employees and another from the Education Department that provides legal assistance for LGBTQ students—went down.
On Thursday, anyone attempting to access a specific page on the Education Department website was met with a 404 error and a notice indicating that the page in question might have been deleted or relocated. A simple message reading “the requested page could not be found” appears on the EEOC website.
The Trump administration is trying to revamp the federal government’s online image and introduce new priorities to Washington, DC. The missing information is just one element of that effort.
The State Department’s page on LGBTQ+ human rights, the Child Welfare Information Gateway’s page on equitable practices, and the Department of Labor’s list of resources for LGBTQ+ workers have all gone black.
The text on the landing page for the Chief Diversity Officers Executive Council at the Office of Personnel Management and at least three other federal agency websites regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives has also been removed.
The Biden-Harris administration took great delight in promoting diversity and inclusion; many currently missing web pages were part of this effort.
Since taking office, Trump has issued contentious executive orders that restrict federal forms and papers to accepting only two gender choices and severely restrict federal diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
The websites that vanished this week may hint at the administration’s more enormous list of priorities, which go beyond those topics.
Along with the Office of Gun Violence Prevention, the White House stated accessibility. In addition, the White House website that provides access to the United States Constitution fell black, although they have promised to restore it.
