US government agencies order employees to remove gender pronouns from email signatures

Multiple US government agencies have ordered employees “to remove gender identifying pronouns from email signature blocks by 5:00 PM” on Friday, according to internal emails seen by CNN.

Multiple US government agencies have ordered employees “to remove gender identifying pronouns from email signature blocks by 5:00 PM” on Friday, according to internal emails seen by CNN. Directives were sent out to employees at agencies including the State Department, Department of Defense and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The emails said the move was to align with President Donald Trump’s “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth” executive order, which says it is US government policy “to recognize two sexes, male and female.” That executive order does not make any specific mention of pronouns. One State Department employee said there is a sense of fear about what the directive signals for freedom of speech and expression at the agency. An email from the State Department’s acting head of management noted that the agency “is reviewing all agency programs, contracts, and grants that inculcate gender ideology, and we are removing outward facing media that does the same.” The email added that offices in the State Department “have already been alerted to review trainings, forms, and plans that involve gender ideology.” The most common third-person pronouns include “she,” “he” and “they.” While “she” and “he” are typically used as gendered pronouns to refer to a woman and a man respectively, “they” can be used as a gender-neutral descriptor for an individual person or a group of people.