US national park gift shops ordered to purge merchandise promoting DEI

(AP) — The Trump administration is expanding its crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion by ordering national parks to purge their gift shops of items it deems objectionable.

The Interior Department said in a memo last month that gift shops, bookstores and concession stands have until Dec. 19 to empty their shelves of retail items that run afoul of President Donald Trump’s agenda.

The agency said its goal is to create “neutral spaces that serve all visitors.” It’s part of a broader initiative the Trump administration has pursued over the last year to root out policies and programs it says discriminate against people based on race, gender and sexual orientation — an effort that has led some major corporations and prominent universities to roll back diversity programs.

Conservation groups say the gift shop initiative amounts to censorship and undermines the National Park Service’s educational mission. But conservative think tanks say taxpayer-funded spaces shouldn’t be allowed to advance ideologies they say are divisive. Employees of the park service and groups that manage national park gift shops say it’s not clear what items will be banned. They didn’t want to speak on the record for fear of retribution.