Washington, D.C.’s Trump International Hotel got some (temporary) upgrades Tuesday night.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) partnered with artist Robin Bell to project the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) “banned words” on the hotel along with what the HRC said was a “declaration from the LGBT community.”
“We will not be erased,” it said, along with “fetus,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “vulnerable,” “evidence-based” and “science-based,” all words that the Trump administration told the CDC not to use in its upcoming 2019 budget. The seven off-limits words also applied to supporting materials for Congress and CDC partners.
.@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 20, 2017
A CDC analyst told the Washington Post that the reaction to the banned words within the CDC was incredulous. “It was very much, ‘Are you serious? Are you kidding?'” they told the Post.
It is, however, in line with the Trump administration’s priorities as well as those of their Republican allies in Congress, who have been hostile to science — particularly climate science — and continuously promoted anti-LGBTQ policies, including attempting to ban transgender people from serving in the military. Recently, Congressional Republicans also tried to put “fetal personhood” language into their tax reform bill.
The CDC director has pushed back against the “banned words” report.
“I want to assure you there are no banned words at CDC,” Brenda Fitzgerald tweeted Sunday. “We will continue to talk about all our important public health programs.”
The New York Times has reported that the list of words was not an outright ban, but rather a suggestion and a technique to ensure Republicans would support the department’s 2019 budget by eliminating certain words and phrases.
But even the “suggestion” suggests that the CDC shouldn’t be focusing on things like diversity, transgender people, fetuses, or evidence- and science-based strategies.
So the HRC took those words straight to Trump Hotel.
.@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 20, 2017
“Our message for the Trump-Pence Administration is this: you cannot erase us,” HRC tweeted. “We will meet attacks on our community with a resolve to be louder and more visible than ever before.”