Fact Check

Does the White House Contact Form Now Have Gender-Inclusive Pronouns?

The change was pointed out by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

Published Jan. 21, 2021

 (Andreas Praefcke/Wikimedia Commons.)
Image Via Andreas Praefcke/Wikimedia Commons.
Claim:
The Biden administration’s White House website contact form allows users to choose from more gender-inclusive pronouns and prefixes including “they/them” and “Mx.”

After the inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden on Jan. 20, 2021, the new administration wasted no time making changes to the White House website. Among those changes, website visitors noticed that the contact form allowed users to choose more gender-inclusive prefixes and pronouns.

The change was pointed out by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD):

The website’s contact form now allows people to choose from the prefixes Mr., Ms., Mrs., Dr., Mx., other, or none. The pronoun options are she/her, he/him, they/them, other, or prefer not to share. These changes were widely praised by LGBTQ advocates.

We visited the website and found that this was indeed the case.

These options did not exist in the version of the website under the Trump administration as of Jan. 19, 2021, as seen through this archived link where the required prefix options were Mr., Mrs., Ms., and Dr.

The entire White House website can now also be translated into Spanish through a blue “Español” button on the top right. The site has large font and high contrast options, which makes it more accessible.

Nur Nasreen Ibrahim is a reporter with experience working in television, international news coverage, fact checking, and creative writing.