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New Williams Institute report: Removal of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity from Federal Data Collections, January 2025-January 2026

February 20, 2026 2:00 PM | DCSS Admin (Administrator)

[Updated 2/20/26 with an additional reference; see below the original post]

From The Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law:

"Using primarily government sources, this study examines the removal of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) measures from federal data collections in the first year of the second Trump administration.

"Hundreds of federal surveys have removed SOGI questions in the last year. Measures of gender identity accounted for the vast majority of removals.
Most removals were made through non-substantive change requests rather than the notice-and-comment process."

See the report online.

In addition, the Movement Advancement Project has issued a report that draws on the Williams Institute research: "The Federal SOGI Data Landscape Under the Second Trump Administration: One Year In Review"

"In just the first year of the second Trump administration, the federal government has taken action to pull back or erase key sources of data about LGBTQ people. These data losses are occurring as the administration aggressively advances an anti-LGBTQ—and particularly anti-transgender—policy agenda. ... This report reviews recent progress in federal LGBTQ data collection, documents the scope and consequences of current demographic data removals and rollbacks, and outlines strategies and resources to promote accountability and responsible data governance in an increasingly hostile federal environment."

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