(Headline USA) The Biden administration rolled out a new pronoun mandate this month that requires all Department of Health and Human Services employees to use the preferred names and pronouns of their colleagues.
The new policy was reportedly announced in an email to HHS employees and appears to be a part of two White House executive orders, one in January 2021 and another in June 2022, which target “gender discrimination” on the basis of “gender identity.”
The HHS Gender Identity Non-Discrimination and Inclusion Guidance is intended to make sure HHS is a “welcoming, supportive environment where all employees feel safe and seen, including transgender and non-binary employees,” the email stated.
HHS today imposed a transgender pronoun mandate on its employees who will now be forced to deny biological realities with their own words or face firing. Those with faith objections should immediately request religious accommodation and prepare to fight for your rights. pic.twitter.com/VW696MnE3y
— Roger Severino (@RogerSeverino_) October 11, 2023
“All applicants and employees should be addressed by the names and pronouns they use to describe themselves. Using correct names and pronouns helps foster workplaces free of discrimination and harassment,” it continued.
The email also included a link to a YouTube video in which Assistant HHS secretary Rachel Levine, who identifies as transgender, claims that “who you know yourself to be is valid.” Levine also makes clear HHS employees “can wear clothing” and “use restrooms” based on what gender they identify as.
Roger Severino, the Heritage Foundation’s vice president for domestic policy and the former head of civil rights at HHS during the Trump administration, blasted the guidance as “Orwellian.”
The policy will force employees to “deny biological realities with their own words or face firing,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“HHS and the federal government is requiring its employees to speak falsehoods,” he said.
Severino also encouraged HHS employees who object to the mandate to challenge it.
“Governments cannot compel speech and certainly cannot compel false speech,” Severino said. “We protect the right of political dissent and here it’s a pledge of allegiance to the Rainbow flag that’s been essentially required.”
