The State Department has claimed that it mistakenly added mandatory pronouns to the “from” line on all the Department’s emails after it was called out by an AP reporter.
The journalist, Matt Lee, challenged Deputy State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel, demanding to know why official emails were being sent with pronouns added to them.
“Within the last hour and a half… the State Department’s internal email system — and I tested this, so I know that it’s true —has added pronouns to people’s … not their signature … but to where it says from,” Lee said, asking “Why?”
“This is not an optional thing,” Lee said, adding “the problem is that a lot of them or at least some of them so far, as I’ve been able to tell, are wrong! They’re giving the wrong pronouns! So men are being identified as women and women as men…. It’s ridiculous!”
Patel had no knowledge of the development and couldn’t provide any answers.
Watch:
WATCH: AP’s Matt Lee asks Biden State Department why they’ve added mandatory pronouns onto the from line on State Department emails.
“This is not an optional thing. … But the problem is that a lot of them or at least some of them so far, as I’ve been able to tell, are wrong!… pic.twitter.com/KVnbnICrUT
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) May 18, 2023
Following the exchange, the State department issued a statement claiming “This change was unintentional and the bureau is working to correct this immediately.”
Read More: Whoops! State Department Says It ‘Unintentionally’ Added MANDATORY Pronouns Onto Emails