Missing children’s org removes LGBTQIA+ materials per Trump DOJ demand

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The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) was told this week by the Department of Justice (DOJ) that they'd lose their funding if the organization didn't remove any mentions of LGBTQIA+ issues from their public materials, I reported on Bluesky late Thursday evening and have now confirmed with multiple sources. I also learned they were told to deadname trans kids in their reports (the practice of using a person’s birth name against their will and/or to misgender them.) 

This was an effort to force them into compliance with Trump’s executive order banning any mentions of “gender ideology”, but it was also in violation of the court order halting the federal funding freeze.

At a meeting on Wednesday of more than 100 NCMEC employees, John Shehan, Senior Vice President of the Exploited Children Division & International Engagement, informed staff of the organization’s intent to comply with the DOJ’s threat. A copy of an email sent to staff Wednesday night by NCMEC Chief Operating Officer Derrick Driscoll confirmed the plans.

“All statements on all public facing material—including the website, reporting, training materials and survivor presentations—that spoke about genders other than male or female had to be edited to reflect male or female,” a NCMEC staff member who was at the meeting told me. “If those materials were not easily editable, they were to be removed. They had a Friday deadline to complete this, but were doubtful they'd be able to get it done in time.”

I’ve chosen to keep the staffer anonymous so they could speak freely and not face professional retribution. Multiple sources have confirmed to me that staffers were told they need to deadname trans kids in their reports to comply with the executive order.

The staffer shared two points from the meeting that they feel illustrate leadership’s willingness to comply with DOJ’s demands and unwillingness to zealously defend the most vulnerable. 

The first was Shehan’s response to a suggestion for how they could avoid providing male or female as the only options for people submitting missing children reports online. What if, the staffer said, they provided a text box where the person filing the report could input whichever gender they felt was appropriate? Shehan responded by saying that would be, “too complicated.”

And when another staffer asked what if, hypothetically, an executive order was issued that targeted LGBTQIA+ employees. Would that affect jobs at NCMEC? Sheehan responded by saying, "I don't know.” 

“I leave you to draw your own conclusions about whether NCMEC is being forced or willingly complying,” the staffer said.

Various parts of NCMEC are funded by a block grant from the DOJ. Most of the work they do interfaces with law enforcement, including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) and Amber alerts. Losing this funding would likely result in about 130 people losing their jobs.

Many in the meeting were reportedly “shocked and very sad” because of what Shehan had shared. Staff, other than the few questions, were completely silent. The source says NCMEC leadership is now focused on finding out who leaked the details of the meeting, using Microsoft Teams and internal emails for their search.

“I would say that their hunt for a whistleblower and their flaccid response to NBC yesterday would imply that they aren't altogether concerned with the public response,” the staffer said.

The staffer was referring to a quote from Driscoll, who told NBC News in a phone interview Friday:  “The direction from DOJ, our grantor, was specifically to review our public-facing platforms and materials for compliance. Our ability to locate and recover missing children and to protect victims of child sexual exploitation remains unchanged and will remain unchanged.”

NBC and The Verge reported Friday that NCMEC had already scrubbed its website of mentions of LGBTQIA+ kids. The Verge found multiple links to reports that mention these kids, including one that references a 2016 study called The Overrepresentation Of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Questioning, Gender Nonconforming And Transgender Youth Within The Child Welfare To Juvenile Justice Crossover Population.

And these facts, in turn, have resulted in many of them going missing or being exploited. It’s the kind of crucial information needed in order for NCMEC to fulfill its mission of protecting all children, as mandated by Congress and President Reagan in 1984. Reagan gave the center a $3.3 million grant to get started.

“Congress created NCMEC, gave it immunity, and funded it because they do the dirty work,” Don McGowan, a former NCMEC Board member and a vocal advocate for trans kids, told me. “They need NCMEC as much as NCMEC needs them.”

McGowan explained further: “NCMEC holds a space in US government circles that it is refusing to use right now. If they said this Order is putting kids at risk and needs to be reworked, they are just about the only org in the country that has a chance of making that happen. It’s morally wrong for them not to.”

I’m told meetings were called at NCMEC’s headquarters on Friday to address the public fallout from my initial report and subsequent stories.

“NCMEC's compliance with a dangerous and immoral Executive Order is akin to the oldest profession in the world: we laid down for money,” the staffer said. “Rather than fight back, we chose to sacrifice trans children on the altar named 'funding.' If we are willing to capitulate to this, then the logical question must be asked: who's next?”