Cécile Alduy Documents 400 Banned Words in US Federal Purge Since January 2025
Cécile Alduy, a literature professor at Stanford who has resided in the U.S. for two decades, has documented almost 400 banned words in U.S. administrative texts since January 2025. Approximately 250 terms, such as "crise climatique," "handicap," "diversité," "LGBT," and "racisme," have been eliminated, with "gender" also removed from federal records. Alduy contends that this effort targets concepts outside of "pensée MAGA," asserting that the removal of specific vocabulary undermines rights—highlighting that without "transgenre," passport renewal is impossible. She cautions of a similar danger in France and suggests using the prohibited words as "mots-étendards," like "fœtus," crucial for abortion rights. Her essay, "D'abord, ils sont venus chercher les mots," is published by éditions des Arènes.
Key facts
- Cécile Alduy has lived in the United States for twenty years and teaches literature at Stanford University
- About 250 words, including "crise climatique," "handicap," "diversité," "LGBT" and "racisme," were banned from US administrative documents and government websites since January 2025
- Alduy's investigation counted nearly 400 forbidden words
- "Gender" was removed from federal texts
- Alduy says erasing the word "transgenre" means a person can no longer renew a passport and no longer exists socially
- She calls universities "l'ennemie public N°1" and says research on certain subjects is prohibited
- Alduy warns France is beginning to fall under similar influence and to self-censor
- Her essay "D'abord, ils sont venus chercher les mots" is published by éditions des Arènes; she is an associate researcher at CEVIPOF in Paris
- The program also covered season 10 of the festival "Rendez-vous international du rire à Lomé" with Valentin Vieyra, and music by BEN Plg
Entities
Artists
- Cécile Alduy
- Valentin Vieyra
- BEN Plg
- Donald Trump
Institutions
- Stanford University
- CEVIPOF
- éditions des Arènes
- RFI
- Rendez-vous international du rire à Lomé
Locations
- United States
- France
- Paris
- Lomé
- Togo