Our lives and our needs must not be censored

Washington, DC, December 16, 2017—Responding to Trump Administration attempts to censor CDC budget documents including the word “transgender,” Rea Carey, Executive Director, National LGBTQ Task Force stated:

President Trump is clearly hostile to the LGBTQ community, women, and science.

In a throwback to the FCC’s banning of seven “dirty words” and Jesse Helms’s “no promo homo” amendments, Trump banned the CDC from using seven words his supporters see as “dirty” – including “transgender,” “fetus,” and “evidence based.”

Our lives and our needs must not be censored. It is disgraceful for a government to attempt to wipe away transgender people, women, and science. President Trump should be ashamed of himself. The CDC knows that the HIV transmission risk for transgender people is high, that transgender people are subject to discrimination, and that they face violence just for being who they are.

The National LGBTQ Task Force will show this president he cannot ignore the transgender community, women, or scientific progress.

The health, science, and justice communities are organizing together to demonstrate that federal funding for health and science matters. How the CDC runs is vital to our well-being. This is not just about freedom of speech: it’s about our existence.

The LGBTQ community is encouraged to #resist now. Tell @CDCgov, you can’t ban my existence. I’m #transgender and proud. #CDCcensorship