In yet another move that signals an alarming erasure of transgender identity from federal oversight, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced it will no longer process transgender identity data in compliance with President Donald Trump’s latest executive order. This decision, confirmed by CDC representative Melissa Dibble in a statement to STAT on Tuesday, has sent shockwaves through the public health and LGBTQ+ advocacy communities.
While sexual orientation data will remain unaffected, the impact of this policy shift is expected to be profound. The exclusion of transgender identity from federal health surveillance systems undermines essential research, erasing critical data that informs public health initiatives, policy development, and community support services.
A Blow to Trans Public Health Research
The ramifications of this decision extend far beyond bureaucratic data processing. Multiple federal health surveillance systems, including the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance Among Transgender Women and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, will now be hindered in their ability to track and support transgender populations.
Among the most immediately affected programs is the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), the only nationally representative survey collecting behavioral health data from high schoolers. Researchers rely on the YRBSS to monitor vital health trends among transgender youth, including mental health struggles, substance use, and sexual health behaviors. State and local governments also utilize this data to develop youth initiatives and policies aimed at protecting vulnerable populations. However, Dibble has confirmed that the CDC is now modifying the survey to remove transgender identity data—an action that could severely disrupt data collection efforts for years to come.
“This is extremely disruptive,” said Tazlina Mannix, a former data manager epidemiologist in Alaska who is now pursuing a doctorate in public health at Johns Hopkins. “Historically, everyone has had a finalized survey for months at this point and is already collecting data with that tool.”
For trans and nonbinary individuals, the YRBSS is more than just a survey—it is one of the only means of establishing visibility in public health data. Without this information, policymakers will be left flying blind when it comes to addressing the needs of transgender youth.
Systematic Erasure from Government Data
This latest move is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to systematically erase transgender people from government recognition. Less than two weeks after Trump issued an executive order falsely declaring that only two genders exist, government health agencies began scrubbing web pages and datasets that referenced transgender identities. The removal of YRBSS data was one of the first casualties of this policy, though it was later reinstated after a court order. Now, with the CDC actively working to modify future data collection efforts, the fate of trans health data remains precarious.
“You can’t build an evidence base if you can’t identify the population,” said a public health worker who has worked with the YRBSS and requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation. “So that is a huge fundamental challenge.”
Dibble did not provide specifics on how exactly the YRBSS is being modified, but reports from state-level public health officials suggest that even if states opt to retain the transgender identity question in their local surveys, the CDC will no longer support national data aggregation for those responses. This essentially renders any state-level efforts to track trans youth health trends meaningless on a federal scale.
A Gag Order on Science
The attack on transgender data collection doesn’t stop at surveys. The Trump administration has also reportedly ordered a sweeping review and halt of all CDC publications that include what it deems “forbidden terms.” According to a report from Inside Medicine, the list of banned words includes “gender,” “transgender,” “pregnant person,” “LGBT,” “non-binary,” “assigned male at birth,” and “assigned female at birth.” The order applies to all CDC-authored or co-authored research, regardless of whether it appears in internal publications or prestigious medical journals.
Inside Medicine obtained an internal email from the CDC’s chief science officer instructing researchers to retract or pause the publication of any research manuscript containing these terms. Even papers that had already been accepted for publication are now being pulled for review to ensure they comply with the administration’s censorship directives.
“How can one person vet all of this?” questioned a CDC official, referring to the fact that all decisions on censored research currently fall under the sole authority of acting Director Susan Monarez. “Especially one who, like Monarez, came from an agency of, what, 130 people?”
This unprecedented censorship has caused chaos among CDC researchers, who now fear that any mention of gender identity, even in demographic data tables, could be deemed problematic and result in their work being blocked from publication. As one anonymous official noted, “I’ve got colleagues pulling papers over Table 1 concerns.”
The Real-World Consequences of Data Erasure
The CDC’s move to comply with Trump’s executive order is not just an attack on transgender inclusion—it is a fundamental assault on evidence-based policymaking. Public health data drives funding allocations, legislative protections, and medical advancements. Without accurate data on transgender individuals, lawmakers and health officials will be unable to craft policies that address the unique challenges faced by the trans community.
For transgender individuals, this erasure from federal data is more than an administrative slight—it is a direct threat to their health, safety, and survival. Without demographic representation, there will be fewer initiatives tailored to trans healthcare needs, fewer resources allocated for trans youth mental health programs, and fewer protections against discrimination in medical settings.
“This is an attempt to legislate us out of existence,” said a transgender activist who wished to remain anonymous. “They are trying to make it so that we don’t ‘exist’ in public data, and if we don’t exist in the data, we don’t exist in policy. If we don’t exist in policy, we don’t get protections. And if we don’t get protections, they are making us more vulnerable.”
The Bottom Line
Despite the chilling effect of these new policies, many public health professionals and LGBTQ+ advocates are fighting back. Legal challenges are already underway to counter the administration’s efforts to restrict scientific research. Additionally, independent researchers and grassroots organizations are working to maintain community-driven data collection efforts to fill the void left by the CDC’s censorship.
History has shown that attempts to erase marginalized communities only strengthen their resolve. Transgender individuals, their families, and allies are refusing to be erased—standing firm against an administration that would rather ignore their existence than address their needs. The question now is whether the courts, public health institutions, and the broader American public will stand with them in the fight to preserve truth, science, and dignity.
For transgender Americans, this is not just a battle for data—it is a battle for survival.
