Top anti-sexual-abuse group accused of ‘obeying Trump’ after ‘erasing’ trans people

America’s top anti-sexual assault nonprofit ‘obeyed Donald Trump’ by wiping almost all mentions of trans people from its website, critics say. The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, or RAINN, once listed more than 10 webpages that included the word ‘transgender’.

When searching the website now, however, users will be greeted by an error page reading: ‘Your search yielded no results.’. RAINN, which provides a national hotline for reporting sexual violence, said it made the changes to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive orders that target trans people.

Under the directives, organisations that receive federal funding must only recognise two genders, male and female, assigned at birth. Trans people are four times more likely to be victims of violent crimes, including rape and sexual assault, than cisgender people.

The National Center for Transgender Equality found that nearly half of the 27,715 trans people surveyed in 2015 experienced sexual assault. With thousands of members from all over the world, our vibrant LGBTQ+ WhatsApp channel is a hub for all the latest news and important issues that face the LGBTQ+ community.

Simply click on this link, select ‘Join Chat’ and you’re in! Don't forget to turn on notifications!. Cut RAINN webpages include a first-hand account of a trans person who was sexually assaulted in high school, according to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.

Now when the page is accessed, it comes up with a blank screen. Trying to access RAINN’s inclusion policy, a page signposting resources for LGBTQ+ survivors or an explainer on the barriers they face now prompts the error message: ‘You are not authorised to access this page.’.

Removed references also include a 2021 page titled ‘LGBTQ Survivors of Sexual Violence’, since renamed ‘Sexual Orientation & Sexual Violence’. The article no longer mentions the LGBTQ+ acronym. The URL has been tweaked from ‘lgbtq-survivors-sexual-violence’ to ‘sexual-orientation-sexual-violence’.

A news release headed, ‘New PSA Examines Experiences of Transgender Survivors with a Message that RAINN is Here for Everyone’, has been eliminated. RAINN’s 2020 statistics on campus sexual violence have also been scrubbed. A figure that 23.1% of trans genderqueer, nonconforming college students have been sexually assaulted has been removed.

RAINN has been approached for comment. The edits are part of a wider trend of American webpages that document LGBTQ+ issues being ‘censored’. According to independent journalist Mady Castigan, around 2,000 webpages including the US Park Services’ page on a monument honouring the Stonewall Uprising have been scrubbed in recent weeks.

Of them, 1,500 included the word ‘transgender’ and 1,300 ‘gay’, ‘lesbian’ or ‘transgender’. ‘RAINN is just the tip of the iceberg,’ Castigan told Metro. ‘There are dozens if not more nonprofits doing the exact same thing to their websites as we speak.’.

The data researcher stressed that RAINN was not ‘forced’ to remove references to trans people. The Sexual Violence Center noted that the move was ‘not required by law but is a deliberate choice by their leadership’. ‘Some may defend RAINN and other organisations by saying that the censorship is required to maintain the funds to continue to serve victims,’ Castigan continued.

‘But by removing these resources, the organisations have already done more harm than good to the people they serve. LGBTQ+ people will never feel safe using the RAINN hotline, and many people have said online they are stopping donations and other support for the organisation.’.

Castigan said that RAINN is ‘sabotaging’ its services and ’emboldening’ the Trump administration to crack down on LGBTQ+ rights. ‘By obeying in advance, these organisations teach the Trump administration the power that the president has over the free speech of independent organisations,’ she added.

‘But I believe that the strong pushback against RAINN’s decision and the loss of public support for the organisation may help convince nonprofit executives to think twice before abandoning LGBTQ+ people.’. Ben Kernighan, the interim CEO at Galop, a UK anti-LGBTQ+ violence charity, worries what impact this could have across the pond.

‘The removal of rights, freedoms and safe spaces of US trans citizens is unacceptable, and has a ripple effect that could put trans people in the UK at greater risk of abuse and violence,’ Kernighan told Metro. ‘When there is an increase in anti-LGBTQ+ narratives from those in power, we see increases in victims seeking support for anti-LGBTQ+ abuse.’.

Gary Williams, CEO of SurvivorsUK, which supports male and non-binary survivors of sexual violence, said all survivors of abuse deserve ’unwavering’ support. ‘Yet too often, trans and non-binary people are left out of that equation, even though research shows they rank among the most common groups to be targeted for sexual violence intended to punish or convert them,’ he told Metro.