Summary:

In February 2025, as U.S. President Donald Trump called for an end to diversity, equity and inclusion practices in the federal workforce, reports claimed the Department of Homeland Security — led by Secretary Kristi Noem — had removed bans on conducting intelligence activities on people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Such reports shared copies of the original DHS report, which showed a rule that originally prohibited personnel from conducting intelligence activities based only on a person’s “race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, country of birth, nationality, or disability.” The latest such report appeared to have removed the references to sexual orientation and gender identity.

The claim is correct that the current DHS report detailing such a rule no longer states how it applies to sexual orientation or gender identity. We looked at an older copy of the report as well as the latest copy and found the reference had been omitted. As such, we rate this claim as true.