Trump Admin's Disturbing Changes On LGBTQ+ Health Data Are Worrying Medical Experts

Yahoo

05-02-2025

Members of the LGBTQ+ community, and transgender people in particular, are currently facing a massive blackout of crucial health information and scientific research.
Following a flurry of executive orders from President Donald Trump, webpages on topics like LGBTQ+ health and safety were removed from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
The CDC has reportedly also sought to rid new scientific papers of terms such as 'LGBT' and 'pregnant person.' And HuffPost recently reported on how the Trump administration formally blocked gender-affirming care for people under the age of 19 who are on federally run insurance programs.
Naturally, these moves have led to intense scrutiny from scientists and the general public. Some CDC resources were put back online following public outcry, including AtlasPlus, which is a disease surveillance tool.However, Dr. Stacy De-Lin, the associate medical director at Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic in New York, said webpages are now stripped of certain terms and information.
Experts told HuffPost that they're concerned about these moves, and about the health and safety of queer people. Below, De-Lin and other doctors share their thoughts about what's going on and where people can still access important health information.
'I just want to point out as a physician, none of these decisions are in any way based in science,' De-Lin said. 'This is politically motivated, and it is discrimination against a group of people.'
When it comes to gender-affirming care specifically, decades' worth of research indicates that health decisions are 'best left to patients, their families and their doctors,' De-Lin said.
'Lawmakers should not have any say in people's personal medical decisions,' she argued.
Restricting care or removing certain words from a federal health website not only discounts years and years of research, but jeopardizes patient safety, according to De-Lin. 'We know, medically, that there's not just two genders,' she said. 'There's a broad spectrum, including intersex people.'
De-Lin added: 'We know transgender, nonbinary, intersex, gender-nonconforming people will continue to exist. Trans people have always existed and always will, and legislating without having just a basic understanding of sex and gender is only going to harm people who need care.'
Not having a reliable and reputable source for information — which is what the CDC is, for physicians and others — can be dangerous, and experts are worried that the Trump administration's moves may result in poorer treatment for marginalized groups.
'There are a lot of knowledge gaps with many health care providers when it comes to the unique aspects of trans health care, and unfortunately that leads to a lot of stigmatization,' said Dr. Eric Burnett, an internal medicine doctor at an academic medical center in New York and a health communicator on social media.
'A lot of trans people don't feel safe going to the doctor,' Burnett added.
Plus, the majority of doctors aren't members of the LGBTQ+ community, said Dr. Janine Zee-Cheng, a pediatrician in Indiana.
In Indiana, 'where the small towns tend to be pretty homogenous, if you have a minoritized community of any kind, they're going to stick out like a sore thumb already,' Zee-Cheng said, adding that 'they're going to be treated differently' and 'potentially worse' than those in the majority population.
If certain groups ― in this case, the LGBTQ+ population ― don't feel safe getting care, the health of the community as a whole will get worse, said Zee-Cheng. If a queer person goes in for an annual physical and feels dismissed or mistreated, they may be less inclined to go back to the doctor when they have a new problem like pain or breathing trouble.
Of course, doctors can look for information in places other than the CDC website, but that could take more time, Zee-Cheng added.
'If each doctor has to look up stuff for an additional 20 minutes per day, multiply that by the number of doctors in your city — that is that many hours wasted,' Zee-Cheng said. 'It's going to be such a huge [depletion] just from a time and resource standpoint.'
In the medical field, doctor and nurse burnout is already common. Having to do extra research to get an answer that used to be readily available could make that burnout even worse, Zee-Cheng noted.
Experts also say the removal of important health resources can severely affect vulnerable populations. For example, 'a lot of the HIV resources got pulled down, and that's obviously very detrimental because you really can't talk about certain aspects of health without talking about health care disparities and how certain conditions, certain diseases, disproportionately affect certain groups,' such as gay men, trans women, African Americans and Latinos, Burnett said.
'Those are just medical facts. But then if you consider that 'DEI' or if you consider that 'woke, radical gender ideology,' you're going to remove our ability as physicians to target resources to at-risk communities,' Burnett added, using an abbreviation for diversity, equity and inclusion.
'That's going to leave those communities at even more of a disadvantage than they already are,' he said. 'It frustrates me as a physician because these communities are already struggling, already facing challenges, and the administration gutting all of this information makes it that much more difficult.'
Zee-Cheng said young people's mental health will suffer as a result of the administration's moves. That includes suicide rates and depression, as well as mental health outcomes throughout their lives, the pediatrician said. Or it could impact how a child performs at school, interacts with their peers or their ability to go to college, Zee-Cheng said.
A 2024 report from the Trevor Project nonprofit said that '39% of LGBTQ+ young people seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year — including 46% of transgender and nonbinary young people.' And according to a now-unavailable page on the Census Bureau's website, a 2022 survey found that 'Half of LGBT respondents ages 18-29 reported symptoms of depression, compared with about 29% of non-LGBT respondents in this age group.'
'One thing I really want to make sure that people are aware of is that Trump does not have the power to unilaterally strip people of their rights,' said De-Lin.
Following an executive order on halting federal support for gender-affirming care among minors, some hospitals moved to restrict such care. De-Lin said she's disappointed to see this happening, adding that there is no reason for hospitals to comply right now.
'These orders definitely take time to put into action. They don't override the rights and protections that the Constitution holds, or federal law or court decision,' De-Lin said. 'I think everyone is really feeling very dizzied and very panicked.'
At health care providers like Planned Parenthood, there are doctors 'who are continuing to proudly provide gender-affirming care to our LGBTQ+ people who come to our centers, and that's not changing,' she said.
'I'll just say that at Planned Parenthood, we absolutely will not be complying in advance,' De-Lin said. 'We will continue to fight and advocate for our patients.'
Still, Burnett urged people not to be complacent.
'We have to take lessons from the communities that came before us, specifically with the HIV/AIDS epidemic where groups like ACT UP [the AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power] and queer activists didn't just sit and take it. They stood up and they fought for their friends, for their family that were dying of AIDS because the government inaction was killing them,' Burnett said.
'I think we're back in that mindset where we're not going to let the government try to erase queer people. ... I think this shows that if you have enough public activism, if you have enough outcry, it can actually impact policy.'
The federal government may be restricting the use of certain words on its websites, but this doesn't mean that local and state health departments can't use those terms, Burnett said.
For people in some states and cities, local health departments have sections of their own websites that cover the information stripped from the CDC site.
'I know in New York City, the New York City Department of Health [and Mental Hygiene] has a really robust sexual health division,' Burnett said. 'I also just encourage people to go to their state and local health department websites, and often they will have resources there and local resources that are easily accessible to people within the community.'
But with queer rights under attack throughout the country, local health departments won't always be a reliable place to get information on LGBTQ+ health care. (Of course, a person in any state can learn from the general health resources on the New York City site, for example; any information on local doctors or local programs just won't apply to them.)
In those cases, Burnett recommended visiting the Human Rights Campaign website to find resources for the queer community and information for providers who treat members of this group. Burnett also suggested checking out the Trans Health Project, an initiative of the Advocates for Trans Equality organization.
De-Lin said she refers people to the Planned Parenthood website for resources on LGBTQ+ health and gender-affirming care.
And if you have a doctor or medical center in your community that you already trust, continue to talk with them, Zee-Cheng said.
'I know it's easy to look at this and feel extraordinarily dejected and that you're not worthy, and that you don't matter, but I think there are more people out there who support you and want what's best for you,' said Burnett. 'Speaking from personal perspective, I'm going to keep fighting until I until I can't anymore. I'm just going to keep going. And there are people out there who are fighting, especially within the health care community, to ensure that that we don't take this lying down.'
If you or someone you know needs help, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org for mental health support. Additionally, you can find local mental health and crisis resources at dontcallthepolice.com. Outside of the U.S., please visit the International Association for Suicide Prevention.
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