Scoop: UPMC pulls diversity and LGBTQ+ content from website

• As Pennsylvania's largest non-government employer, the system serves millions and dominates the region's health care landscape.

What they're saying: UPMC representatives did not respond to Axios' questions about the changes to the site on Friday, but they said Thursday that the website's 25,000 pages regularly undergo maintenance.

• Tanner Alexander, a transgender man from Swissvale, told Axios that several bookmarked pages on transition care had disappeared by Friday.
• "You have to go fishing on the website to find things like affirming doctors," he said. "And it's hard to figure out what care they provide now."

Context: As of Friday night, several UPMC web pages for LGBTQIA+ services — including clinical care, affirming providers and gender-affirming treatments redirect to the homepage or show broken links, a review of the website found. Additionally:

• UPMC's Center for Engagement and Inclusion landing page was changed Friday, removing the center's name from the top of the website, eliminating DEI language, and replacing the header with "A Culture of Inclusion and Belonging at UPMC." Similar terms were removed on affiliated pages.
• Western Psych's website no longer mentions an LGBTQ+ health equality award and has removed "safe space" language and crisis line info for LGBTQ+ patients. A section touting LGBTQ+ non-discrimination policies and specialized staff training was also removed from the site's "About" page.
• Posts centered on Black maternal health, LGBTQIA+ issues, health disparities and equity were no longer live on a UPMC blog Friday, leaving behind a trail of dozens of broken URL links.
• Entire sections, including LGBTQ Health and Health Equity, have been removed, resulting in 404 errors on nearly 100 articles spanning topics like racial disparities in breast cancer outcomes and mental health issues in the transgender community.
• Pages highlighting UPMC's DEI commitments in Presbyterian Tower construction, LGBTQ+ youth resources, and a Children's Hospital diversity committee are missing.
• Another page cuts language about "promoting health equity," dropping "diverse neighbors" from "building a healthy community," and replacing terms like "disparities" with "opportunities."

Catch up quick: President Trump's first 100 days in office brought a wave of executive orders targeting gender-affirming care and race-based equity programs.

• A judge temporarily blocked an order barring care for trans minors, but some health systems, including UPMC, are already shifting policies.
• Earlier this year, UPMC Children's Hospital stopped providing gender-affirming care for patients under 19, ending access to puberty blockers, hormones and surgeries and removing CHP's Gender and Sexual Development Program web page.

Zoom out: Hospitals and universities across the country are dismantling DEI programs and removing LGBTQ+ content from their websites in response to federal pressure as they navigate tentative Trump-administration orders.

• Institutions, including the University of Michigan, have closed DEI offices, and others have rebranded or eliminated diversity-focused initiatives to comply with new guidelines.

Zoom in: Earlier this year, the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University removed or altered web pages referencing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives following a U.S. Department of Education directive to comply or risk losing millions in federal research funding.

• Allegheny Health Network and Highmark have also removed DEI content from web pages.

This story has been updated with more information.