Department of Homeland Security No Longer Bans Surveillance On LGBTQ+ People
The removal of the ban on surveillance based on sexual orientation and gender identity follows Trump’s order to eliminate DEI programs.
Earlier this month the Department of Homeland Security quietly updated its policy manual, removing protections for LGBTQ+ identities from its General Requirements section that prohibits surveillance.
The manual’s previous statement, which can be found in the internet archive, states, “OSIC Personnel are prohibited from engaging in intelligence activities based solely on an individual’s or group’s race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, country of birth, nationality, or disability. The use of these characteristics is permitted only in combination with other information and only where (1) intended and reasonably believed to support one or more of I&A’s national or departmental missions and (2) narrowly focused in support of that mission (or those missions).”
The new, altered statement has removed the terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.”
These changes are an aftermath of Trump’s executive orders removing diversity, equity, and inclusion in government and denying the existence of transgender and non-binary people.
Related: LGBTQ Groups Sue Trump Over Anti-Trans Orders
Trump’s appointed pick for Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, has a long history of targeting LGBTQ+ rights. The former governor of South Dakota signed executive orders banning gender-affirming care for youth and transgender athletes from participating in sports teams that align with their identity.
The Office of Intelligence and Analysis states on its homepage “I&A’s main focus is to provide the Department with the intelligence and information it needs to keep the Homeland safe, secure, and resilient.”
The Brennan Center for Justice reported the “Department of Homeland Security. DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) has for years engaged in abusive domestic intelligence practices targeting Americans’ political views and broadly painting certain groups of Americans as terrorists. Since at least 2016, I&A officers have conducted interviews with people held in jails without sufficient constitutional protections, targeted journalists and activists protesting local monuments under the guise of homeland security, surveilled racial justice demonstrators, and monitored political views shared by millions of Americans — about topics like abortion, government, and elections — that DHS baldly asserts will lead to violence.”
The I&A’s operating principles to identify, mitigate, and respond to threats, with the removal of sexual orientation and gender identity in the manual, suggest that LGBTQ+ groups are a security threat and can be investigated.
