On January 31, 2025, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ordered agency scientists to retract or pause the publication of research manuscripts that include certain “forbidden terms” specified by the Trump administration relating to gender and sexuality. The order exceeds the earlier pause on internal publications and the general CDC communications embargo and includes research published in any medical or scientific journal.
The list of forbidden terms includes “gender, transgender, pregnant person, pregnant people, LGBT, transsexual, non-binary, nonbinary, assigned male at birth, assigned female at birth, biologically male, biologically female,” many of which appear in the basic demographic information gathered about study participants. The list of terms is meant to guide the removal of materials from the CDC website in compliance with President Trump’s January 20 executive order declaring that the federal government will only recognize two sexes, male and female.