The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has recently mandated a new policy under the Gender Identity and Non-Discrimination Guidance.
This directive compels all HHS employees to address their colleagues by their chosen names and pronouns, though the repercussions for those not adhering to the new guidance were not clarified.
It is also unknown whether there would be provisions for employees with religious objections.
The internal communication delivered to the HHS workforce underscores that “All employees should be addressed [by] the names and pronouns they use to describe themselves.”
HHS Deputy Secretary Andrea Palm, in a related YouTube video, expressed the department’s perspective, stating, “I want to say clearly to every one of you: Who you are and who you know yourself to be is valid,” The National Catholic Register points out.
Palm elaborated that the policy is set out to ensure “that our colleagues are able to show up every day as their whole selves.”
Moreover, the guidance extends to matters beyond pronoun usage.
It clarifies that workers have the choice to wear clothing and use restroom facilities that align with their self-identified gender identity, regardless of their biological sex.
Plans are also being initiated to update HHS’ IT systems to ensure records are consistent with an employee’s declared transgender identity.
Furthermore, the directive aims to strengthen anti-discrimination protections from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Rachel Levine, HHS Assistant Secretary for Health, emphasized the policy’s goal to confirm that “all HHS employees, including transgender and nonbinary employees, have equal protections in the workplace.”
She further stated, “All supervisors and managers are responsible for helping to ensure it is fully implemented across all [operating divisions] and [staff divisions].”
However, the policy’s enforcement mechanisms and the implications for non-compliance remain unspecified.
Additionally, the guidelines do not address accommodations or exemptions for employees with religious objections to the policy, even though religion was briefly mentioned in Palm’s video.
Roger Severino, former director of the HHS Office for Civil Rights and now vice president of domestic policy at the Heritage Foundation, voiced strong concerns.
He labeled the policy as a “compelled speech” mandate and remarked that HHS has “replaced science and evidence with ideology.”
Severino warned of potential conflicts with religious employees and stated, “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.”
Addressing the constitutionality, Severino argued, “Under the First Amendment, [the department] cannot compel people to speak falsehoods; it also cannot compel people to adopt as their own a state-approved ideology [and it] cannot require people of faith to deny their faith with their own lips.”
He encouraged employees with concerns to take proactive measures and advised, “People should be prepared to file lawsuits to indicate their free speech and religious liberty rights and people of faith should flood HHS with religious accommodations requests and be prepared to defend themselves and their faith from this attack.”
