State Dept. official grilled over ‘mandatory’ use of pronouns in emails

[Kamaji]

State Dept. official grilled over ‘mandatory’ use of pronouns in emails

By Patrick Reilly
May 18, 2023

An Associated Press reporter and Deputy State Department spokesman Vedant Patel got into a heated exchange Thursday over the agency’s new policy that reportedly mandates the use of pronouns in emails.

Journalist Matt Lee, who covers the State Department for the outlet, asked Patel during his Thursday press briefing to address a reportedly “mandatory” policy implemented just hours earlier that requires internal email exchanges to include pronouns, Fox News reported.

“Have you gotten any emails from any of your colleagues before you came out here… since about noon or so?” Lee asked Patel.

Patel asked the reporter what his question was and Lee asked him if he had noticed anything different in the “from” line of the emails.

The spokesman appeared to get frustrated and said that he was not aware of any changes.

*  *  *

Source:  https://nypost.com/2023/05/18/state-department-official-grilled-over-mandatory-use-of-pronouns-in-emails/

[mountaineer]

This feckless administration is more concerned with pronouns, drag shows and raising the "trans flag" over our embassies than anything remotely related to the good of the nation.

[mountaineer]

Like I said:

Biden's State Department Is Putting Brazilian Trans Activists in English Classes
US embassy partners with group that claims 'every cis person is transphobic'
Alana Goodman   
May 19, 2023

The Biden administration plans to teach more than two dozen "trans activists" in Brazil how to speak English as part of its partnership with a radical advocacy group that claims "every cis person is transphobic." ...

The initiative is part of a larger push by the State Department to fund training programs for transgender communities around the world. Earlier this year, the department offered a $500,000 grant to fund English classes for transgender youth in Pakistan. The Biden administration has also committed taxpayer dollars to support climate activists abroad, the Washington Free Beacon reported in March.

It is unclear how much the English lessons will cost the American taxpayers. The State Department did not respond to a request for comment. ...

Free Beacon
Both Bush and Trump had the chance to clear the swamp at Foggy Bottom, and failed.

[Kamaji]

Like I said:Free Beacon
Both Bush and Trump had the chance to clear the swamp at Foggy Bottom, and failed.

[mountaineer]

Our lovely State Department:

State Department Offers Counseling To Misgendered Employees Triggered By Email Pronoun Debacle
'I deeply regret the confusion and distress this mistake caused our workforce'
Adam Kredo   
May 19, 2023
Free Beacon

The State Department will offer counseling to any employee "who feels hurt or upset" by a system-wide email glitch that temporarily assigned random and often incorrect gender pronouns to staff.

The State Department is offering free therapy to "any employee who feels hurt or upset as a result of this unfortunate mistake," according to an internal email that went out to employees on Friday. Many State Department employees were "triggered" on Thursday, when emails from colleagues suddenly began to include random pronouns, like, "She/her/hers" and "He/Him/His" in the "from" line.

The pronouns were randomly assigned, with men being given female pronouns and vice versa, due to a "pronoun glitch" in the department’s system, the Washington Free Beacon first reported.

Those upset by the misgendering are encouraged to contact the State Department’s Employee Consultation Service "to speak to a professional counselor."

"I want to stress that the intent behind making this feature available is to make our systems more inclusive and provide employees with options—not to make decisions for them," Kelly E. Fletcher, the State Department’s chief information officer, wrote in the email. "I recognize that this error had the opposite effect, and again, I am very sorry." ...

Pardon my French, but these people are f****ng insane. And perverse.

[Fishrrman]

mountaineer wrote:
"Both Bush and Trump had the chance to clear the swamp at Foggy Bottom, and failed."

The only way to clean out that "swamp" would be to close down the entire State Department, fire everyone, and start over from scratch.

(Same with every other out-of-control government agency. How could that be done?  Pssst.. I know another way it could be done...)

[PeteS in CA]

Setting the political BS in this aside, continual use of pronouns in longer communications quickly gets confusing. I tend to avoid pronouns - in discussion forums and in work communication - so there’s no confusion which “he” or “she” is which. Excessive use of pronouns makes understanding the Qur’an really difficult (yes, I have read it in an English translation).