An HIV expert at the CDC was asked to scrub data on trans people. He quit instead. “I thought about my transgender patients and how I would face them.”
An HIV expert at the CDC was asked to scrub data on trans people. He quit instead. “I thought about my transgender patients and how I would face them.”
>Weiser had been preparing a paper based on MMP data that addressed opiate use among transgender people with HIV. Data showed those individuals didn’t receive drug treatment in numbers comparable to other populations. Research indicated that addressing that disparity could improve outcomes targeting HIV transmission.
>“We were getting ready to publish this study, but when I put the paper through CDC’s clearance process, I was told to remove data about the prevalence of opioid misuse among transgender people,” Weiser told [*POZ magazine*](https://www.poz.com/article/hiv-expert-refused-censor-data-quit-cdc).
>“I thought carefully about that, and I decided not to do that, because it’s bad science to suppress data for ideological reasons and because erasing people from the story harms actual people. I thought about my transgender patients and how I would face them, and what I would say to them while I’m sitting with them in the exam room, knowing that I had erased their existence from the CDC.
>“I withdrew the paper,” he said.
>In May, the Trump administration ended funding for the Medical Monitoring Project.
>After being fired and then brought back to the agency in June, Weiser ultimately resigned.
“I knew this was no longer the best place for me. I could do more good by spending extra time taking care of my patients,” he said.
The only plausible explanation for this is that Christian nationalists literally delight in people getting AIDS and dying. It’s back to 80s Reagan all over again.
Christian nationalists don’t care about people dying of diseases, because they view people dying of HIV/AIDS as God “ridding the Earth” of the “infidels”, like trans people.
There isn’t a crueler ideology than Christian nationalism. Any Christian nationalist who attempts to justify this instead of calling this out is a monster, in my eyes.
Zealousideal_Ad_9623 on
Why the fuck do these idiot bastards have to be such pieces of shit? Can’t they just for once do something without the intention of causing pain to those they don’t like?
Much-Cartographer735 on
Just state it openly, you fucking pigs.
You want them all dead.
And then you wonder why they strike back, especially with nothing left to lose.
Gunslingerofthewildw on
Good on that HIV expert for quitting. Transgender people deserve care and the GOP is monsters for not allowing that.
thrawtes on
>I thought carefully about that, and I decided not to do that, because it’s bad science to suppress data for ideological reasons and because erasing people from the story harms actual people.
Okay but the American people aren’t paying you for good science free of ideological bias. The American people want their government institutions politically and ideologically aligned with the ruling party. It was a major issue of contention in 2024 and this is what America chose.
kquizz on
Ugh I’m so tired of these people quitting.
Don’t quit!! Make them fire you..and then sue their asses.
Quitting is exactly what they want.
Historical_Bend_2629 on
Scrubbing data, trying to rewrite history, erasing people, and redefine reality seems to be a hallmark of this administration. Fascist.
brain_overclocked on
Oh look, censorship.
Own-Bullfrog7362 on
At this point I can only conclude that the fixation on trans issues is part of the admins’ sleight‑of‑hand. Pick a highly divisive topic that gets everyone worked up and keep hammering on it — all while they’re quietly picking your pocket. They don’t actually give a damn one way or another. But the damage is being done . . .
9 Comments
>Weiser had been preparing a paper based on MMP data that addressed opiate use among transgender people with HIV. Data showed those individuals didn’t receive drug treatment in numbers comparable to other populations. Research indicated that addressing that disparity could improve outcomes targeting HIV transmission.
>“We were getting ready to publish this study, but when I put the paper through CDC’s clearance process, I was told to remove data about the prevalence of opioid misuse among transgender people,” Weiser told [*POZ magazine*](https://www.poz.com/article/hiv-expert-refused-censor-data-quit-cdc).
>“I thought carefully about that, and I decided not to do that, because it’s bad science to suppress data for ideological reasons and because erasing people from the story harms actual people. I thought about my transgender patients and how I would face them, and what I would say to them while I’m sitting with them in the exam room, knowing that I had erased their existence from the CDC.
>“I withdrew the paper,” he said.
>In May, the Trump administration ended funding for the Medical Monitoring Project.
>After being fired and then brought back to the agency in June, Weiser ultimately resigned.
“I knew this was no longer the best place for me. I could do more good by spending extra time taking care of my patients,” he said.
The only plausible explanation for this is that Christian nationalists literally delight in people getting AIDS and dying. It’s back to 80s Reagan all over again.
Christian nationalists don’t care about people dying of diseases, because they view people dying of HIV/AIDS as God “ridding the Earth” of the “infidels”, like trans people.
There isn’t a crueler ideology than Christian nationalism. Any Christian nationalist who attempts to justify this instead of calling this out is a monster, in my eyes.
Why the fuck do these idiot bastards have to be such pieces of shit? Can’t they just for once do something without the intention of causing pain to those they don’t like?
Just state it openly, you fucking pigs.
You want them all dead.
And then you wonder why they strike back, especially with nothing left to lose.
Good on that HIV expert for quitting. Transgender people deserve care and the GOP is monsters for not allowing that.
>I thought carefully about that, and I decided not to do that, because it’s bad science to suppress data for ideological reasons and because erasing people from the story harms actual people.
Okay but the American people aren’t paying you for good science free of ideological bias. The American people want their government institutions politically and ideologically aligned with the ruling party. It was a major issue of contention in 2024 and this is what America chose.
Ugh I’m so tired of these people quitting.
Don’t quit!! Make them fire you..and then sue their asses.
Quitting is exactly what they want.
Scrubbing data, trying to rewrite history, erasing people, and redefine reality seems to be a hallmark of this administration. Fascist.
Oh look, censorship.
At this point I can only conclude that the fixation on trans issues is part of the admins’ sleight‑of‑hand. Pick a highly divisive topic that gets everyone worked up and keep hammering on it — all while they’re quietly picking your pocket. They don’t actually give a damn one way or another. But the damage is being done . . .