DEI now means “acknowledging that people other than white men exist”

I just need to vent, please. I’ve been told to cease work on a grant proposal examining LGBTQ communities in a different (non-US) country, in collaboration with coauthors from that country. Because the project “is DEI.” I asked, what does that mean exactly? What makes it DEI? Simply the acknowledgment that LGBTQ people exist (Not even in the US!) is now DEI. So are we just not allowed to even use terms describing sexuality, race, gender, or disability anymore? Land of the free, amirite 🍻

Edit: wow! thank you to those who offered support and commiseration. One question people keep asking is who told me to stop this work. I don’t want to get myself doxxed, so I’ll just say it was a high-level administrator who approves all grant proposals before they leave the college. Also, the grant I’m applying for is not a federal grant, but I work at a public university. So the grant isn’t funded by federal money but my job (and this administrator’s) is.