In a recent reversal of a contentious policy, the Pentagon has abandoned its mandate for “gender-neutral” pronouns in award citations. Here’s the full story.
The New Change
The change, known as “Change 6” was issued on September 19th, modifying a previous update to the Manual of Military Decorations and Awards that had required the use of “gender-neutral” pronouns for six joint awards.
Use of “Themself”
The controversy began in August when the Department of Defense introduced an unannounced alteration to the manual, mandating the use of “themself” instead of “himself” or “herself” in award citations.
The Problem
The language adjustment, which wasn’t initially widely publicized, was uncovered by the Heritage Foundation.
The foundation revealed that the award citation for Gen. Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had been returned because he had employed gender-specific pronouns in his citation.
The Affected Awards
Some of the awards affected by this policy change included the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, and the Joint Meritorious Unit Award.
The Backlash
However, the new policy faced backlash from Republican lawmakers, including Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas.
The Letter
Senator Cotton penned a letter to the Pentagon on September 8, expressing his skepticism and calling for clarification.
He stated that he would “welcome a reply that this whole episode was just a practical joke or a decision you immediately reversed when it came to your attention.”
The Clarification
In response to the mounting criticism, the Department of Defense issued a “clarifying comment” that clarified “themselves” could be replaced with “himself” or “herself.”
Male Pronouns
A Pentagon official later informed Gen. Mark Milley’s award citation was approved with male pronouns.
Senator Cotton, who serves on the Senate Committee on Armed Services, explained that the adoption of this policy was not an oversight.
Biden Is Trying to Woke-Ify the Military
He said, “This was no mistake. The administration has been trying to woke-ify the military since Joe Biden took office.”
Absurd Left-Wing Terminology
“They got caught this time and reversed course, but the Department of Defense should never have adopted this absurd left-wing terminology in the first place” he added.
Twitter Users Expressed Their Views
Several social media users shared their thoughts on the incident.
One Twitter user wrote, “Good get rid of that. We should have never started playing that pronoun game in the first place. Men are he and women are she and it doesn’t matter how you feel matters how you were born.”
A Good Decision
Another user added, “It was a bad idea to begin with. Pronouns have no place in the military. If you wish to use whatever pronouns you want, feel free but off duty. They aren’t real and shouldn’t be legitimized in the system.”
Stop the Madness
A third user commented, “Now let’s get Transgender Surgeries stopped. The medications used make them non-deployable, which is the number one mission of the American military. Let’s stop the madness.”
Liberal Fascist
A fourth user wrote, “First of all liberal fascist Milley deserves no awards! He has ruined our military! And we wonder why military recruitment is down! This is what happens when the DOD goes liberal fascist!”
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The post Pentagon Abandons Controversial ‘Gender-Neutral’ Pronoun Policy for Joint Awards first appeared on Mama Say What?!
Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock / Andrii Zastrozhnov. The people shown in the images are for illustrative purposes only, not the actual people featured in the story.
