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Harvard Profs Sue Trump Administration Over Removal of LGBTQ Research From Website

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on March 14, 2025.

By I. Edwards HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, March 14, 2025 -- Two Harvard medical school professors are suing the Trump administration, arguing that their research was unfairly removed from a government-run website.

Their studies, focused on improving patient safety and reducing medical errors, were suddenly removed allegedly because they included terms like “LGBTQ” and “transgender.”

The doctors say this move not only violates their First Amendment rights but also puts patient lives at risk, NBC News reported.

Harvard faculty members Dr. Gordon Schiff and Dr. Celeste Royce said their peer-reviewed studies were taken down from the Patient Safety Network website, which is operated by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

Their lawsuit — backed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Yale Law School’s Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic — argues that the removal is both unlawful and dangerous.

The lawsuit notes that misdiagnoses lead to death or permanent disability for about 795,000 Americans each year. The professors say their research was focused on improving medical diagnoses and patient safety.

“Allowing the government to censor research regarding patient safety for political reasons will almost assuredly increase that number,” the suit says.

One of the removed studies addressed suicide risk and mentioned LGBTQ patients, while another included the word "transgender" and covered endometriosis (a disease in which uterine tissue grows outside a woman's uterus).

Rachel Davidson, an attorney with the ACLU of Massachusetts, called the removal of these studies a serious constitutional violation.

“It is a fundamental principle of the First Amendment that the government cannot restrict speech just because it disagrees with the viewpoint of that speech,” Davidson said. “We think that is especially important in areas of scientific inquiry and debate and research.”

The lawsuit names the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and AHRQ as defendants.

It claims the removals were made due to an executive order on gender ideology signed by President Donald Trump on January 20. It recognizes male and female as the only two sexes.

Schiff and Royce said they will not censor their medical conclusions and are pursuing legal action to protect the integrity of medical research and patient safety.

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted March 2025

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