The Tennessee Department of Health prohibits the use of preferential pronouns in staff emails, reflecting similar directives issued by federal agencies in response to orders issued by the Trump administration.
The prohibition on the use of preferential pronouns is reflected in the policy update “Communication Policy Branding Standards” on March 5th.
An updated policy on state employee emails states that “gender pronouns may not be included in the subject, body, or signature line for the purpose of identifying the preferred pronouns of the sender.”
“Pronouns cannot be used in emails unless they are used in sentences where the noun is located.”
The policy revision came to “the powers of health committee members,” the spokesman said. Dr. Ralph Alvarado, a former Republican Senator of Kentucky and his first running companion with former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, has been a committee member of the department since 2023.
The Health Bureau’s directive reflects a national rollback of a broader policy aimed at recognizing the identity of non-binary individuals, not within and outside the government.
Ministry of Health spokesman Dean Frener first responded to questions about policy changes, saying, “There are no new policies.”
However, previous versions of the Ministry of Health’s policy do not reveal any instructions regarding the use of preferential pronouns. That previous policy was revised on March 5th.
Frener said the update reflects a “more inclusive” repetition of existing sectoral policies.
“The department’s communications policy was previously addressed as something that may not be included in employee emails or automated signatures,” Flener said in response to an additional question from Lookout.
“The updated language of the policy repeats these existing requirements in a more comprehensive way,” he said.
The new policy also adds another ban. “Emails may not contain inspirational quotes.”
DOH Pronoun Policy
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