The Department of Health and Human Services has created a new gender pronoun policy for its employees that could have them terminated for “misgendering.”
New 'Orwellian' HHS pronoun mandate forces employees to 'deny reality,' violate law: legal expert https://t.co/KmxhZw4vVS
— Fox News Politics (@foxnewspolitics) November 9, 2023
The guidance states that everyone should be addressed by the names and pronouns they are comfortable with, and that in doing so, will help decrease discrimination and harassment.
The new policy allows staff to wear clothing and use the restroom that matches their “gender identity.”
According to the new regulations, men who identify as women are allowed to undress in front of female colleagues and if any woman feels uncomfortable, she is the one who would be forced to leave.
Heritage Foundation’s vice president for domestic policy and former head of civil rights at HHS Roger Severino identified the policy as speaking “falsehoods.”
The new policy brings into question the protective freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment, especially involving religion.
Severino said that employees have a right to practice their faith and that a supervisor cannot force them to deny their faith while employed.
As of October 2023, there were about 80,000 personnel employed by the HHS who received the email regarding the new policy.
Here’s the HHS Pronoun Mandate more clearly. This admin really is requiring pure ideological conformity. Let’s see how tolerant this admin will be of those who will seek an opt-out out of faith or compelled speech concerns. pic.twitter.com/yhlTZIkBxc
— Roger Severino (@RogerSeverino_) October 11, 2023
HHS employees who do not agree with this policy are being forced to abandon the values of their faith.
“It absolutely will [lead to targeting Christians] because the [Biden] administration has made it abundantly clear that it prioritizes gender ideology over free speech and religious freedom rights,” Severino said.
Over the years, there has been an increase in the amount of Christians terminated from their jobs due to not compromising their faith.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission states that employers are prohibited from discriminating “when it comes to any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, fringe benefits, and any other term or condition of employment.”
Rep. Mary Miller, along with several other GOP lawmakers, sent a letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, asking how the new guidelines apply to religious employees.
While the wokeness movement continues to target government organizations, more officials are standing up for those being discriminated against for not complying with false narratives.
