The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the primary U.S. nonprofit for fighting child sexual exploitation, said Friday that it is removing all references to transgender people from its public materials.
The move is in accordance with an executive order President Trump signed last week, which bars federal funding that goes to “gender ideology” and makes it the official policy of the federal government to not recognize their gender identity.
“Earlier this week, like many federally funded non-profits, NCMEC was directed by DOJ to comply with Executive Order 14168,” a NCMEC spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “We are responding to this direction in a balanced way reviewing our publicly facing materials to ensure compliance while not impacting our 40-year mission of child protection.”
As a nonprofit, NCMEC relies heavily on grant money from the Department of Justice. It is the nation’s largest private sector organization to search for missing and exploited children, and coordinates between law enforcement and tech companies to identify and remove child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
Derrick Driscoll, NCMEC’s chief operating officer, told NBC News in a phone interview that the organization’s primary operations would not change, but the executive order compelled it to remove materials that mentioned transgender adults and children. He declined to speak about specific reports.
“The direction from DOJ, our grantor, was specifically to review our public facing platforms and materials for compliance,” he said. “Our ability to locate and recover missing children and to protect victims of child sexual exploitation remains unchanged and will remain unchanged.”
News of the shift at NCMEC was first reported by independent reporter Marisa Kabas.
The White House and Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment.
While NCMEC said there would be no major changes to its operations, the nonprofit appeared to have taken action to remove some documents that mentioned LGBTQ youth.
The Verge reported that three reports previously hosted on the NCMEC website had become inaccessible, each of which mentioned LGBTQ people — one on suicidal tendencies of missing children, one on male victims of sex trafficking and one analysis on children in state care who go missing.
Groups that advocate for transgender people condemned the move by NCMEC as singling out and demonizing people who are already marginalized.
“Missing persons organizations’ support should be available to all, and a minority group of children shouldn’t be targeted by the government,” the board of the Trans Doe Task Force, a trans-led nonprofit that searches for missing and murdered trans people, said in an emailed statement. “Many LGBTQIA+ children have gone missing due to unsafe conditions at home and unsupportive families.”
GLAAD, the nonprofit devoted to LGBTQ rights, questioned the legality of the Trump administration order.
“No organization dedicated to helping youth should have to endure intimidation and threats,” a GLAAD spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
“These executive orders are not law, and it is illegal for the executive branch to impound any funds already appropriated by Congress. LGBTQ youth are among the most vulnerable to housing insecurity, violence, and abuse, they exist and need resources and help. Let groups that help them do their job.”
