I have been an academic throughout my career. I am shaken to the core by what I have just read. A researcher in the US federal system has just had an opinion piece published in the BMJ (one of the world’s oldest general medical journals – formerly called the British Medical Journal).

It has been published anonymously – with very, very good reason. For those of us outside the USA looking on aghast at the rampant abuse of power, it may seem incredible, and our brains may struggle to process the reality we are facing. For those in the USA, and in this case in the academy, it must feel a truly scary and incomprehensible place to be.

“We have been handed a huge list of words that may lead to a grant being pulled, including advocacy, biased, gender, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender), diversity, inclusion, marginalised, and underserved.”

“We have been told to remove references to vulnerable groups and retract or pause publication of any research manuscript being considered by any medical or scientific journal which uses these words”.

I haven’t been to the annual Transportation Research Board conference in Washington for many years and don’t expect to any longer because I don’t wish to fly. Yet I now imagine how the conference will function next January under the ‘regime’ where any papers or presentations on climate change or on equality, diversity and inclusion may well have to walk a tightrope of self-censureship of wordsmithing and redaction of data and analysis elements that are now being made ‘no go’ zones.

This is insane.

The opinion piece goes on to note: “This is digital genocide: populations of vulnerable people are being deleted. Data on transgender men and women are being deleted. We are also losing data on maternal mortality. These populations will suffer now and for decades to come.”

Whenever typing on social media, one is thinking about where ‘the line’ is that should not be crossed. It’s getting hard to see the line recently as it is moving so rapidly. I can tell you, I’ve hovered over the ‘Post’ button for this one several times.

Honestly, I’ve got deadlines coming out of my ears at the moment, the last thing I needed was to be crafting this post. But how can we plod on with the small stuff when the big stuff is circling around us like a tornado set to wreak havok? I feel something sickening in the pit of my stomach.

My heart goes out to the brave person who wrote this opinion piece. My heart goes out to the people who are feeling frightened, further marginalised, debased, shocked and angry.

My brain continuously struggles to understand how those who have had forms of privilege all their lives can be so merciless in repelling what I assume are bogeymen in their minds – EQUALITY, DIVERSITY, INCLUSION, COMPASSION, HUMILITY, BIODIVERSITY, ENVIRONMENT, EDUCATION.

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” — Dr Martin Luther King Jr

BMJ 2025;388:r311