Last week, State Department employees’ email name displays were assigned involuntary, and in some instances incorrect, pronouns. A long-serving State Department official, who has been granted anonymity due to the legitimate fear of government retribution, provided The Federalist a look into the internal reaction to the department’s pronoun fiasco.
Below is an exclusive image obtained by The Federalist showing how the pronouns appeared on employees’ emails:
News of the involuntary pronouns was publicized by Associated Press reporter Matt Lee, who asked deputy State Department spokesman Vedant Patel during a press conference why the pronouns are not optional, particularly because the department is assigning incorrect ones.
Patel, who appeared unaware of the newly assigned pronouns, was visibly displeased by the line of questioning, dismissively telling Lee, “Thank you, Matt,” and adding, “I will look into this … Thanks, everybody. Happy Thursday.”
Later, State Department Chief Information Officer Kelly E. Fletcher sent out an email to all personnel, stating that the pronoun feature was a “test” that “inadvertently went live.” Fletcher also offered professional counseling services for those “who [feel] hurt or upset as a result of this unfortunate mistake.”
‘It’s Insulting’
According to The Federalist’s source, many of the bureaus’ diversity czars also weighed in. The department official said each bureau, of which there are dozens within the State Department responsible for various policy initiatives, is required to have a full-time diversity officer. This is in addition to the State Department’s chief diversity officer.
“There’s a lot of people
