That crystal charm you have hanging on your office window — the one that disperses sunlight to cast little rainbows across your wall — might catch some side-eye if it were found at NASA’s headquarters in Washington D.C., according to a NASA watchdog report. In fact, it might not be a good idea to bring rainbow paraphernalia or any LGBTQI+ Pride displays to the building.
Employees at NASA headquarters have allegedly been barred from displaying Pride symbols on their person or in their workspaces, the NASA Watch report says. The news comes as a slew of Executive orders signed by U.S. President Donald Trump continues to force policy changes at NASA and other federal agencies, targeting diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) initiatives.
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 statement to Space.com, NASA denied the allegations and clarified, “there are no penalties or warnings about being placed on administrative leave for displaying personal items.”
“There are no new bans on any personal affects in employees’ workspaces. As always, the items must adhere to legal, safety, and NASA rules and guidelines,” NASA said, adding that, “some managers have been reminding employees to be mindful of what personal affects they have in their workspaces.”
Before NASA issued its response, ranking U.S. House Space and Aeronautics Committee members Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Valerie Foushee (D-NC), in a joint statement, 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.”
Lofgren and Foushee directed their blame toward President Trump and SpaceX CEO and advisor to the President, Elon Musk, saying the duo’s prejudice and homophobia are “rapidly seeping into Washington.” 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.
In a June 7 Instagram post from Cleveland, Ohio’s 2024 Pride parade, the official account for NASA Glenn described RAAG as “an employee resource group that supports and advocates for the LGBTQI+ community and helps cultivate an inclusive environment at NASA.” This post and the NASA RAAG webpage have both since been deleted.
The changes across the agency are sweeping. They span the array of removing things like lengthy employee profile pieces that highlighted diversity at NASA, to barring the use of employees’ preferred pronouns and informing employees the agency could “automatically remove pronouns from everyone’s [email] signature,” one NASA employee told Space.com.
