'Banned words' crossword puzzle mocks Donald Trump's LGBTQ+ censorship in federal government

After learning of Donald Trump's list of words for the federal government to avoid, an LGBTQ+ nonprofit has made a crossword puzzle of the banned terms.

It Gets Better, an advocacy organization serving queer young people, launched the “banned words” crossword puzzle today in response to a New York Timesreport that revealed the Trump Administration is censoring words related to race and gender.

"Words matter. They shape our understanding of the world, give voice to our experiences, and empower us to push for change," the organization wrote, adding, "At It Gets Better, we believe in amplifying voices, not silencing them. So while the government may try to erase certain language, we’re bringing it back — one clue at a time."

The banned words include advocate, assigned at birth, assigned female at birth, assigned male at birth, biologically female, biologically male, Black, breastfeed + people, breastfeed + person, chestfeed + people, chestfeed + person, female, females, feminism, gender, gender based, gender based violence, gender diversity, gender identity, gender ideology, gender-affirming care, genders, immigrant, LGBT, LGBTQ, men who have sex with men, MSM, Mx, non-binary, nonbinary, people + uterus, pronoun, pronouns, segregation, sex, sexual preferences, sexuality, they/them, trans, transgender, transsexual, and women.

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The banned words list comes after Trump signed executive orders forcing the removal of all references to DEI in the federal government, as well as mandating that the federal government deny the existence of transgender people by recognizing only two sexes — male or female — despite the scientific and medical consensus that sex is a spectrum.

The Trump Administration has used the orders to demand the removal of over 26,000 images and posts uploaded by the Department of Defense. Several photos were seemingly flagged for removal only because their file included the word ”gay,” including the World War II aircraft the Enola Gay, which dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.

Photos of an Army Corps of Engineers project are also slated for removal because one of the engineers had the last name "Gay," as well as a photo of Army Corps biologists because it contained data about fish, including their gender.

Trump's Administration also made the National Park Service remove the "T" from the "LGBTQ+" acronym as well as any references to transgender people from the official Stonewall National Monument website. The 1969 Stonewall Riots — protests in response to police raids of gay bars — are widely credited as sparking the modern-day LGBTQ+ rights movement, and were led by transgender and gender non-conforming women of color, like Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and Miss Major Griffin-Gracy.

Prior to its revision, as recently as Wednesday, the NPS website introduction read, "Before the 1960s, almost everything about living openly as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ+) person was illegal." Now it states, "Before the 1960s, almost everything about living openly as a lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) person was illegal. The Stonewall Uprising on June 28, 1969 is a milestone in the quest for LGB civil rights and provided momentum for a movement."