Federal agency affinity groups are going dark or disbanding following President Donald Trump’s executive orders rooting out diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and gender ideology.
LGBTQ employee groups accross several agencies have made changes since Trump signed an executive order day one, which made it the official policy of the U.S. that there are only two sexes and prohibited the use of federal funds to advance gender ideology. Groups within the Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and State Department, among others, appear to have ceased or reorganized operations.
A group for DOJ employees who identify as LGBTQ, DOJ Pride, shut itself down this week.
“In this time of uncertainty and concern, we have taken the extraordinary measure of ceasing operations of DOJ Pride,” the group wrote in an email to members, according to NBC News. “We have made this decision in the interest and for the protection of all members.”
The DOJ Gender Equality Network’s website now states it is “no longer an active organization.” A list of affinity groups no longer appears on the official department website.
Likewise, DHS Pride renamed itself to 11UnitedPride, according to its Facebook page and LinkedIn.
The EPA group for LGBTQ employees, Equality EPA, also is no longer linked on the department website.
A Pentagon agency stopped celebration of events like Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Juneteenth, Black History Month, Holocaust Day, Women’s Equality Day and Pride Month, according to a memo. The Defense Intelligence Agency’s memo also stated it would “pause Agency Resource Groups, Affinity Groups, and Employee Networking Groups, effective immediately and until further notice.”
The State Department’s employee organizations page has also been shut down. Glifaa, which represents “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) personnel, their families, and their allies in the U.S. foreign affairs community,” removed most content from its website.
Other agencies, like the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), have shut down their LGBTQ resource pages.
In an Office of Personnel Management memo, agencies were instructed to put employees who promote gender ideology on leave, take steps to close all “initiatives, offices, and programs” that support gender ideology and turn off email signatures features that include pronouns by 5 p.m. on Friday.
Glifaa, Equality EPA and DHS Pride did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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