The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services imposed a transgender pronoun mandate on its employees this week with new guidance that instructs employees to affirm any co-worker’s self-proclaimed gender identity and preferred pronouns.

“All employees should be addressed [by] the names and pronouns they use to describe themselves,” an HHS email sent to employees and shared with CNA read. The mandate is part of the department’s new Gender Identity and Non-Discrimination Guidance, which was established to outline “employee rights and protections related to gender identity,” according to the email.

In an unlisted YouTube video linked in the email, HHS Deputy Secretary Andrea Palm said the policy ensures “that our colleagues are able to show up every day as their whole selves.”

“I want to say clearly to every one of you: Who you are and who you know yourself to be is valid,” Palm continued. “We want you to be your authentic self every day, regardless of your gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, or disability status.”

Even though Palm briefly mentioned religion, neither the email nor the speakers in the video made any mention of accommodating or exempting employees who have religious objections to transgender ideology from the policy.

HHS Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Rachel Levine, who is “an out and proud transgender woman” according to the video announcement, said this policy ensures that “all HHS employees, including transgender and nonbinary employees, have equal protections in the workplace….”

From Catholic News Agency