NASA employees will no longer be able to display pronouns in their emails or next to their names in Microsoft Outlook and Teams. This is the latest in a series of changes at the space agency following the inauguration of President Donald Trump.
In an agency-wide email, NASA informed its employees that the id.nasa.gov and Teams functions, which allowed users to add pronouns to their names in Microsoft Outlook and Teams, had been disabled in response to recent presidential orders, NPR reports. “For users who previously added pronouns to their names, these pronouns will be automatically removed from the system this week,” the email, reviewed by NPR journalists, states.
Additionally, NASA has approved a “single email signature block for emails sent from any nasa.gov email address,” which “must not contain any additional embellishments,” according to the email. “All users (civil servants, contractors, and grantees) must update their signature blocks to match the approved signature block.” Gizmodo reached out to NASA’s press office for comment but had not received a response at the time of publication.
This is the latest in a series of steps the space agency has taken to comply with a number of executive orders stemming from the new administration’s war on diversity and inclusion. Shortly after President Trump announced an executive order to close offices dedicated to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the federal government, NASA swiftly ended its diversity programs and canceled all related contracts. “These programs divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer money, and led to disgraceful discrimination,” wrote NASA Acting Administrator Janet Petro in a memo sent to agency employees on January 22.
Reportedly, on the same day, NASA sent out another internal memo instructing employees to remove certain terms from their public websites, including DEI, underrepresented groups, women in leadership, environmental justice, and accessibility. NASA also suspended several astrophysics and planetary science committees to reassess their positions.
NASA’s latest move to remove pronouns from employees’ names and email signatures contradicts the agency’s previous efforts to support employees’ rights to be addressed by their correct names and pronouns. In 2022, reports surfaced online that NASA had removed pronouns from employees’ identification badges. A now-deleted statement on NASA’s website had expressed support for “every employee’s right to be addressed by their correct name and pronouns.”
“At present, all NASA employees have the option and flexibility to include their gender pronouns in their individual email signature blocks. This option remains unchanged and is supported by NASA leadership so that employees can share their gender identity and demonstrate their commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community,” the statement read, according to a Space.com article published at the time.
Now, the URL for the statement returns a “page not found” error, as do other pages that have been removed in accordance with Trump’s executive orders. NASA is working to review its websites and employees’ digital signatures to align with the new administration’s policies.
