Exclusive: Blinken Cautioned State Dept. Staff against ‘Misgendering,’ Using Gendered Terms Like ‘Father’ in Official Cable

In early February, just days after the United States launched dozens of strikes against Iranian-backed militants in retaliation for the killing of three American soldiers, Secretary of State Antony Blinken finally found time to provide guidance to his staffers on a really, really pressing issue facing the nation: the threat of “misgendering.”

Making assumptions about another person’s gender identity based on their appearance or name “can be problematic” and send a “harmful, exclusionary message,” Blinken wrote in a February 5 cable, which instructed State Department employees to avoid using common terms like “mother/father,” “son/daughter,” and “husband/wife.”

National Review recently obtained the text of the cable and confirmed its authenticity. Some State Department staffers have questioned why Blinken is spending time promoting far-left gender activism at critical junctures in the raging wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

The subject of the cable is “Modeling DEIA: Gender Identity Best Practices,” and its aim is to “increase understanding of gender identity and provide guidance on gender identity language and best practices that support an inclusive work environment.”

The cable says that gender is a social construct and that gender identity is a person’s “innermost concept of self as masculine, feminine, a blend of both, or neither,” which “may or may not correspond with one’s sex assigned at birth.”

It suggests that State Department employees identify their pronouns in their email signatures and when introducing themselves in meetings “to show respect and avoid misunderstandings.”

“Commonly used pronouns could include she/her, he/him, they/them, and ze/zir,” the cable says, adding that some people use more than one set of pronouns and some people may accept all pronouns. “This is a personal decision that should be respected.”

The cable also instructs staffers to use “gender-neutral language whenever possible.” Problematic terms like “manpower,” “you guys,” “ladies and gentlemen” and even “mother/father,” “son/daughter,” and “husband/wife” should be avoided. Better to use terms like “labor force,” “everyone,” “folks,” “you all,” and “parent,” “child,” and “spouse” or partner” instead, the cable says.

“When speaking, avoid using phrases like ‘brave men and women on the front lines,’” the cable adds, suggesting that staffers “use more specific language such as ‘brave first responders,’ ‘brave soldiers,’ or ‘brave DS agents.’”

The cable also instructs State Department employees not to “pressure someone to state their pronouns,” to handle mistakes with “subtlety and grace,” and to remember that gender identity “may be fluid, so remain attuned to and supportive of shifts in pronouns.”

National Review reached out to the State Department for comment, but Jennifer, a press office spokeswoman, err, “spokesperson” said in an email that the department doesn’t comment on leaked internal documents.

The cable is the latest move by Blinken to inject woke, left-wing identity-based activism into the State Department bureaucracy.

In recent years, the State Department has hired a chief “diversity and inclusion officer,” appointed a “special representative for racial equity and justice,” and named a “special envoy to advance the human rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex Persons.” The department has also announced a third gender marker on passports for people who don’t identify as male or female; planned to hold a ten-day after-hours event to educate staffers about diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility topics; and mandated that U.S. diplomats “advance” DEI as part of the criteria for promotions.

Two of the first executive orders Joe Biden signed as president were focused on “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities through the Federal Government,” and “Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation.”

Despite Blinken’s efforts to make the State Department “look like the country it represents,” “anger is growing about the lack of progress on diversity, equity, and inclusion in this historically white, male institution,” according to a report this week in the New Republic. The report claims that current and former staffers “with firsthand knowledge of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion say that the State Department is struggling to retain employees and expand diversity.”