White House Says It Shuts Out Journalists Who Put Pronouns in Email Signature

The top White House spokesperson says that she refuses to acknowledge emails from any journalists who have pronouns listed in their signature.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted in a statement to The Washington Post that reporters who share their pronouns are not concerned with “truth.”

“Any reporter who chooses to put their preferred pronouns in their bio clearly does not care about biological reality or truth and therefore cannot be trusted to write an honest story,” Leavitt told the outlet.

Matt Berg, a reporter for Crooked Media who has pronouns listed in his email signature, tried it out for himself. He emailed another Trump administration spokesperson, Katie Miller — who had refused his friend’s request for comment days earlier, over his pronouns being in his email signature — and received the same response that his friend did.

“As a matter of policy, I don’t respond to people who use pronouns in their signature as it shows they don’t have an understanding of basic scientific facts,” Miller wrote in response.

Three reporters at The New York Times were also refused communication for the same reason, though the Post stated that “at least one Washington Post reporter has recently received replies from White House officials despite having an email signature listing pronouns.”

Following the Post‘s request for comment, Leavitt did not elaborate on whether her personal policy reflects formal guidance from the White House, or whether other White House officials are also hand-selecting which reporters to address.

This practice comes after, on his first day of his second term, President Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring the United States would only recognize two sexes, male and female, according to biology assigned at birth.

This policy has fueled friction, especially in the government, on both state and federal levels.

Recently, a Texas real estate commission worker was fired after refusing to amend his email signature to exclude his pronouns. And last month, during a House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Europe panel meeting, Texas Rep. Keith Self intentionally misgendered Rep. Sarah McBride — the first openly transgender member of Congress — and cited Trump’s executive order as his rationale.

Including pronouns in email signatures became a common practice in recent years, initially out of solidarity for transgender and nonbinary people. Pronouns have also been used to add helpful context for virtual introductions, given that names are not always clear indicators of a person’s gender.