Bea Arthur, legendary Golden Girl, Emmy winner, Marine Corps veteran, and beloved LGBTQ+ ally, has become the latest casualty in a growing and deeply troubling campaign by the U.S. Department of Defense to erase historical figures associated with diversity and inclusion. The department has quietly removed a webpage honoring Arthur’s military service—just in time for Women’s History Month.
Yes, that Bea Arthur—Dorothy Zbornak herself—who once drove trucks for the Marines before she ever drove Sophia Petrillo crazy on primetime TV. Before Arthur became a queer cultural icon, she was Staff Sergeant Bernice Frankel, one of the first women to enlist in the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve during WWII. But you won’t find that on the Department of Defense website anymore. The once-public page now returns a “404 not found,” with a not-so-subtle URL: “DEIbefore.”
The disappearing act was first spotted by X user “Tortured Marketing Department,” whose post mourning the lost page has since racked up over 800,000 views. The removal is part of a sweeping rollback of DEI-related content spearheaded by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, acting under the shadow of Donald Trump’s anti-inclusion mandate. Other targets have included a Black Medal of Honor recipient and Navajo code talkers—yes, really.
Arthur’s deletion is particularly galling for the LGBTQ+ community, which has long claimed the actress as one of its fiercest allies. Not only did she star in the gay-beloved sitcom The Golden Girls—a series that tackled gay marriage, the AIDS crisis, and the closet—but she also backed up her advocacy with cold, hard cash. Arthur donated $300,000 in her will to the Ali Forney Center, which supports homeless queer youth in New York City.
“Daily reminder that ‘DEI’ is just code for attacking everything that isn’t a cishet white man,” one user posted in response to the scrubbed page. Another added, “Bea not only is historically a bad ass but she’s so important to our culture as a whole.”
The erasure of Bea Arthur isn’t just about one actress. It’s about a broader trend of whitewashing history to fit an increasingly conservative narrative—one that punishes progress and attempts to drag us back to an era where LGBTQ+ people, people of color, and women were seen but not acknowledged. For a community that has fought for visibility, this sort of governmental ghosting hits hard.
Bea Arthur’s legacy—on screen and off—was one of inclusion, resistance, and unapologetic fabulousness. The DoD may try to delete her, but to us, she’ll always be the girl who stood tall in combat boots and shoulder pads.
Delete her page? Please. Bea Arthur still lives rent-free in every queer heart.