The US Air Force prohibits the inclusion of preferred pronouns in email signatures and other communications. Military branch announced changes to a News Release.
The reversal was signed by the acting Air Force deputy secretary for manpower and reserve action Gwendolyn DeFilippi.
Previously OrderThe signing of Defense Secretary Pete Hegses was issued on January 31 to comply with an executive order issued by President Donald Trump, stating that the US government would only recognize two genders, male and female, as justified.
A subsequent executive order from Trump seeks to openly ban transgender soldiers from service built on that first executive order.
Trump declared that individuals experiencing gender discomfort, or those seeking medical transitions, are not entitled to provide services as the treatments they have to receive are expensive, time-consuming and compromised military preparation.
He also said that identifying as transgender could prevent unit aggregation, as the idea that gender can be altered is based on “false” and is morally questionable.
All military and the Department of Defense branches were trying to comply with Trump’s orders, but the Department of Air Force, including Air Force troops, is the first to reverse the course.
According to Military.comthe reversal was prompted by the perception that banning the voluntary use of pronunciation violated a law signed by former President Joe Biden in 2023.
Under the provisions of National Defense Authorization Act In 2024, the Secretary of Defense said, “May not be required.” Or prohibited [emphasis added] Members of the Armed Forces of the Department of Defense civilian employee to identify the gender or personal pronoun of such members or employees in official department communications. ”
This provision, as applicable today, prohibits Defense Secretary Pete Hegses from allowing the use of pronouns or disciplining them for choosing to include pronouns in their signatures.
In particular, many cisgender individuals have used pronouns in email communications for several years, especially when they have an unusual name that is not identified by one gender, or have a gender-neutral name that can lead to confusion.
However, it has only been recently that Republicans and Social Conservatives have launched wars against pronouns because they are linked to transgender identity.
The reversal of pronoun policy was welcomed by military advocates like Army veteran and West Point alumni Sue Fulton.
“I’m pleased that some of the Trump administration is still following the law,” said Fulton, who served as president of the Sparta, a military group defending transgender inclusion.
Luke Schleusener, CEO of Out, a nonprofit organization supporting LGBTQ national security experts, is based on his perception that policy reversals are in a hurry and working with other Trump administrations’ actions that seem to be created carefully enough to avoid possible challenges.
He called the pronoun ban and its implementation “sloppy, lazy, and overloaded with animus.”
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
