The Trump administration’s latest culture war target? Your email signature.
Reporters covering the White House say they’ve been iced out of official responses — not for asking tough questions — but for daring to include their pronouns in their email bios. That’s right: a reporter simply identifying as “she/her” or “they/them” now gets a virtual side-eye from the president’s press team.
This bizarre new front in the war on LGBTQ visibility was made public after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt — never one to miss an anti-LGBTQ talking point — reportedly told a journalist: “As a matter of policy, we do not respond to reporters with pronouns in their bios.” The message was clear: include your pronouns, lose your access.
Pronouns Become a Political Battleground
The move isn’t totally shocking from an administration that’s made “gender ideology” its latest villain. Trump has already signed executive orders erasing non-binary identities from federal recognition and demanded government employees scrub their email signatures clean of pronouns.
Now it seems that anyone covering this administration — including cisgender reporters signaling allyship — might face retaliation just for acknowledging the existence of trans and non-binary people in their email signatures.
Press freedom advocates are sounding the alarm. “Evading tough questions certainly runs counter to transparent engagement with free and independent press reporting,” one outlet noted. But refusing to respond to basic questions because of an email format choice? That’s not just unprofessional — it’s petty, childish, and deeply revealing.
Why This Matters for the LGBTQ Community
This policy isn’t about email etiquette. It’s about erasure.
Pronouns in email signatures have become a simple act of respect and visibility for the LGBTQ community — an everyday practice that signals inclusion. The Trump administration’s attack on this practice sends a chilling message to trans people and their allies: your identity is invalid, your existence is controversial, and your voice doesn’t deserve to be heard.
It’s a tactic ripped straight from the anti-LGBTQ playbook — policing language to control culture. Sociolinguist Lauren Hall-Lew summed it up: “Because we’re communicating between people, because people are messy, then all language becomes political.”
For queer Americans, especially trans and non-binary folks who already face hostility, this move reinforces a dangerous narrative. It tells them they are unwelcome not just in government spaces but in the very language we use to communicate.
The Bottom Line
Let’s be clear: email signatures aren’t the issue. This is about a government choosing to silence and sideline LGBTQ people — even in the smallest, pettiest ways possible.
But here’s what history teaches us: queer visibility survives censorship. Pronouns aren’t going anywhere. And neither is the community brave enough to claim them — in their bios, in their emails, and everywhere else.