U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents have reportedly been ordered to use gender neutral pronouns when dealing with the public.
The order comes from a memo obtained by the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project.
Driving the news: The memo states that agents should not use he/him or she/her pronouns when initially interacting with members of the public, until more information is obtained or provided by the individual.
- Agents are encouraged in the memo to use a universal greeting such as “good morning” or “good evening.”
- If incorrect pronouns are used and corrected by the individual, agents should acknowledge the oversight and use the correct pronoun.
- The memo also provides definitions of various gender terms, such as bisexual, gay, gender expression, gender identity, gender non-conforming, intersex, lesbian, non-binary, queer, questioning, sex assigned at birth, sexual orientation, transgender, transgender woman, transgender man, and transitioning.
- The memo states that this guidance is meant to facilitate effective communication with the diverse public CBP serves, including LGBTQ individuals.
