A "glitch" with pronouns used in emails has caused chaos in the Department of State (DOS). Many staff members began receiving emails with a different gender designation, i.e., naming men as if they were women and women as if they were men.
This "glitch," as the State Department claims it was, occurred one day after the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. This is an event that DOS itself celebrated on its Twitter account:
LGBTQI+ rights are human rights. Today on #IDAHOBIT, we pledge to continue the fight to end discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, intersex, transgender, and gender diverse persons. pic.twitter.com/dNB4I19nzx
— Department of State (@StateDept) May 17, 2023
Matthew Miller, State Department spokesperson confirmed these failures:
The State Department’s Bureau of Information Resource Management (IRM) is aware of the recent issues with user profiles on Microsoft Outlook and working to remedy the situation. This change was unintentional and the bureau is working to correct this immediately.
— Matthew Miller (@StateDeptSpox) May 18, 2023
The Washington Free Beacon had access to several emails that included these errors.