LGBT rights group projects Trump CDC banned words on Trump Hotel

The Human Rights Campaign took aim at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) list of “banned words,” projecting them on the Trump International Hotel in D.C. on Tuesday night.

The group, partnering with D.C.-based multimedia artist Robin Bell, projected the seven words on the front of the hotel, in addition to the phrase, “We will not be erased.”

.@HRC protests tonight in powerful display projected at Trump’s DC Hotel. The projection rotated words Trump-Pence administration reportedly banned at the CDC, including “transgender” & “diversity” – and ended with a declaration from the #LGBTQ community: “we will not be erased.” pic.twitter.com/Yq8aQQdaRX

— HumanRightsCampaign (@HRC) December 19, 2017

.@HRC partnered with artist Robin Bell (@bellvisuals) to project every ‘banned word’ across the front of Trump’s DC Hotel. Our display concludes with a declaration from the #LGBTQ community: “we will not be erased.” pic.twitter.com/DZ4qhABQkz

— HumanRightsCampaign (@HRC) December 19, 2017

The Washington Post reported over the weekend that senior CDC officials told policy analysts that they were not to use the words “diversity,” “transgender,” “fetus,” “science-based,” “evidence-based,” “vulnerable” and “entitlement” on official documents being prepared for the fiscal 2019 budget.

{mosads}“The Trump-Pence Administration banned the CDC from using words like ‘transgender’ and ‘diversity’ in an effort to erase us,” the Human Rights Campaign wrote in a tweet, sharing photos of the projections. “Tonight we met their attacks with a resolve to be louder and more visible than ever before.”

The Department of Health and Human Services pushed back on the report, calling it a “mischaracterization of discussions.”

A spokesman for the department, Matt Lloyd, said in a statement that the department would “strongly encourage the use of outcome and evidence data in program evaluations and budget decisions.”

The CDC also said there were no banned words, and a report in The New York Times suggested the effort was more of a way to try to work with GOP appropriators to secure funding by avoiding the use of certain terms or phrases.