Republican Congressman Louie Gohmert accused a journalist of misgendering him and of "triggering hurt feelings" on Thursday after the reporter accidentally used female pronouns to refer to the Texas representative.
Journalist Hunter Walker emailed Gohmert for comment, claiming to be writing an article about the congressman's alleged connections to the January 6 Capitol riots. In the second paragraph of his email, however, Walker accidentally referred to Gohmert and "members of her staff."
Gohmert – a man who uses he/him pronouns – took to social media on Thursday to protest Walker's email.
"This week Hunter Walker 'a reporter' emailed my office but misgendered me, triggering hurt feelings & my search for a safe space far away from bigoted false pronouns," Gohmert tweeted, before questioning whether Twitter would punish Walker and Rolling Stone in the same way that it punished Representatives Jim Banks and Marjorie Taylor-Greene last week after they referred to transgender four-star Admiral Rachel Levine as a man.
This week Hunter Walker “a reporter” emailed my office but misgendered me, triggering hurt feelings & my search for a safe space far away from bigoted false pronouns. Will Twitter treat @RollingStone@hunterw the same as @mtgreenee and @Jim_Banks? pic.twitter.com/Q9VhTHgYzV
Though Walker accused Gohmert of not taking the January 6 riot investigation seriously, he also apologized for the error on Twitter, claiming that he had "mistyped" the wrong pronoun and that he regrets the mistake.
Good to see the congressman is taking the Jan. 6 investigation so seriously. https://t.co/NSPq0SuE7B
I was keeping track of so many members of Congeess involved that I misstyped a pronoun in his email. I so deeply regret the error. I wonder if the congressman has any regrets about Jan. 6? Would love a serious answer to that question.
Other social media users accused Gohmert of deflecting from the questions in Walker's email and claimed he was acting like a "petty, pathetic troll."
The US Department of State, however, advised Americans last week on the importance of using the right pronouns.
"Knowing and using someone's pronouns avoids accidentally assuming an incorrect gender based on a name or an appearance," the State Department said, listing non-binary options like "they/them" and "ze/zir/zirs" among the more traditional male and female pronouns.
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