NASA HQ verbally orders employees to purge workspaces of LGBTQI+ symbols

[Jessica_Rose]

NASA HQ verbally orders employees to purge workspaces of LGBTQI+ symbols

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/nasa-hq-verbally-orders-employees-to-purge-workspaces-of-lgbtqi-symbols/ar-AA1yQLwA?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=1c5deba3769740469d46e73d5a46e00c&ei=6

Story by Josh Dinner (11 Feb 2025)

That crystal charm you have hanging on your office window — the one that disperses sunlight to cast little rainbows across your wall — might have to go if it were found at NASA's headquarters in Washington D.C.

NASA employees at the space agency's D.C. headquarters have reportedly been barred from displaying Pride symbols on their person or in their workspaces, according to a NASA Watch report.

In recent weeks, NASA employees across the country received emails announcing an end to the agency's DEIA offices as well as directives to adhere to new guidelines penned by the Trump administration. The new regulation regarding Pride symbols was only communicated verbally, according to the NASA Watch report, and threatened violators with administrative leave. In a joint statement, ranking U.S. House Space and Aeronautics Committee members Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Valerie Foushee (D-NC) called the move "a ridiculous overstep."

"This is a ridiculous overstep and direct assault on NASA HQ employees' free speech and humanity," they said, asserting, "this government-sanctioned censorship is the latest assault on the rights of federal employees and should not stand."

Concurrently, NASA websites previously containing any information about diversity, women in STEM and leadership roles, as well as employee resource pages to get involved with organizations, such as NASA's Rainbow Alliance Advisory Group (RAAG), have all been wiped from the internet.