US Federal Workers: New Directive to Remove Pronouns from Email Signatures

Impact of Pronoun Removal from Email Signatures for US Federal Employees

On January 31, 2025, U.S. federal agencies were directed to remove gender-identifying pronouns from email signatures and eliminate references to “gender ideology” from official communications, websites, and documents.

This directive, issued by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), aligns with an executive order signed by President Donald Trump upon resuming office. Agencies were instructed to replace the term “gender” with “sex” in official forms and to disband employee resource groups related to gender issues. The mandate also called for the termination of grants and contracts associated with gender-related initiatives.

As a result, several federal websites, including those of the Federal Aviation Administration and the Census Bureau, were temporarily taken offline or edited to comply with the new guidelines. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) removed information pertaining to transgender health issues, such as HIV guidance and resources for transgender and non-binary students.

Additionally, federal employees across various agencies, including the State Department, were required to remove gender pronouns from their email signatures by the end of the day.

These actions are part of a broader initiative by the Trump administration to dismantle diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEI) programs within the federal government. The administration has emphasized a binary definition of sex, rejecting the recognition of gender identities, and has taken steps to remove DEI language from federal discourse, communications, and publications.