Air Force Reverses Ban on Pronouns in Email Signatures
The reversal complies with a 2023 law that prohibits the Secretary of Defense from banning pronoun usage by DoD employees.
The U.S. Air Force is rescinding a ban on including preferred pronouns in email signatures and other communications. The military branch announced the change in a news release.
The reversal was signed by Acting Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs Gwendolyn DeFilippi.
The earlier directive, signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, was issued on January 31 to comply with an executive order issued by President Donald Trump stating that the United States government will only recognize two sexes — male and female — as legitimate.
A subsequent executive order from Trump seeking to bar openly transgender military personnel from serving built upon that initial executive order.
Trump declared that individuals experiencing gender dysphoria, or those attempting to medically transition, are ineligible to serve because the treatments they have to receive are costly, time-consuming, and otherwise compromise military readiness.
He also said that identifying as transgender can hamper unit cohesion and is morally suspect, as the idea that one can change their gender is based on a “falsehood.”
While all branches of the military and the Department of Defense sought to comply with Trump’s orders, the Department of the Air Force- including the Space Force- is the first to reverse course.
According to Military.com, the reversal was prompted by a realization that prohibiting the voluntary use of pronouns violated a law signed into effect by former President Joe Biden in 2023.
Under a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2024, the Secretary of Defense “may not require or prohibit [emphasis added] a member of the Armed Forces of a civilian employee of the Department of Defense to identify the gender or personal pronouns of such member or employee in any official correspondence of the Department.”
The provision, as applicable today, prohibits Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from disallowing the use of pronouns or disciplining individuals who opt to include pronouns in their signature.
Notably, a number of cisgender individuals have used pronouns in email correspondence for years, especially if they have an unusual name that isn’t typically identified with one gender or if they have a gender-neutral name that could lead to confusion.
But it is only in recent years that Republicans and social conservatives have launched a war against pronouns on the grounds that they are associated with transgender identity.
The reversal of the pronoun policy was hailed by military advocates like Sue Fulton, an Army veteran and graduate of West Point, who was part of the first class to admit women.
“I’m pleased that some part of Trump’s administration is still following the law,” Fulton, who served as the president of SPARTA, a military group advocating for transgender inclusion, told Military.com.
Luke Schleusener, the CEO of Out in National Security, a nonprofit supporting LGBTQ national security professionals, told Military.com that the reversal of the policy — based on the realization that it conflicts with an existing law — aligns with other Trump administration actions that appear to have been rushed and not carefully crafted enough to avoid possible challenges.
He called the pronoun ban and its implementation “sloppy, lazy, and overloaded with animus.”
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