Dear Acting Administrator Barsa,
Last week, we applauded the announcement on Monday, June 15th, that the Supreme Court has
ruled that Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity are federally protected against workplace
discrimination by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This is a historic step forward for the
workplace protections and human rights of all Americans, particularly the LGBTI community.
We sincerely appreciate your stated commitment to diversity and inclusion at
USAID. Specifically, we have been encouraged by your statement on the critical importance of
religious freedom, your statement in support of Pride month, the commitment you expressed to
diversity and inclusion as we navigate the COVID crisis, and your emphasis on the serious and
painful impact of racism in our community today.
However, in recent weeks, several press outlets (e.g. Politico, Washington Post) have reported
on problematic language previously used by senior USAID officials. Specifically, the former
statements referred to the United States as a “homo empire,” and used phrases such as “gender
confused,” “tyrannical LGBT agenda,” and “barbaric cult” (in reference to Islam). You
demonstrated your concern for the well-being of the employees who used this language in your
press statement, which “condemn[ed] the unwarranted and malicious attacks” against these
employees.
We are concerned that your press statement did not demonstrate concern for the wellbeing of
USAID employees who have been targeted by the language in question, nor address
accountability measures to prevent language like this from occurring within the Agency. The
use of these words and concepts creates a hostile work environment, undermines our efforts to
advance USAID’s critical mission, and is antithetical to USAID’s core values of respect,
empowerment and inclusion - which you eloquently highlighted in your recent USAID Front Page
article. Additionally, these words do not reflect USAID’s efforts to strengthen the voices of the
marginalized and vulnerable, nor recognize their human rights and dignity as individuals.
We expect that any future use of such derogatory and discriminatory language or symbolism
(including racist, transphobic, or other discriminatory images) by a USAID staff member against
any identity will not be tolerated in our USAID family. Such language or symbolism must be
appropriately reprimanded and characterized as counterproductive to our efforts to “promote
and demonstrate democratic values abroad, and advance a free, peaceful, and prosperous
world” and to advancing USAID’s values of diversity and inclusion.
The below-signed Employee Resource Groups ask you to: (1) reiterate the Agency's zero
tolerance standpoint on workplace discrimination in an Agency notice; (2) announce that
relevant ADS chapters will be updated to reflect the new Supreme Court ruling, and while
awaiting ADS revisions are pending that the Agency considers it effective immediately; and (3)
find opportunities to publicly show support for diversity at USAID and in our programs. We
request a meeting with you to discuss how we can collaborate on ensuring that USAID’s

 workforce is valued in its full diversity and can experience a supportive and inclusive working
environment. Thank you for considering this request.
Signed,
Arab Americans in Foreign Affairs Agencies (AAIFAA)
Asian Pacific American Employee Committee (APAEC)
Balancing Act @USAID
Blacks in Government (BIG)
Gender and Sexual Minorities at USAID (GSM@AID)
Hispanic Employees Council of Foreign Affairs Agencies (HECFAA)
Jewish Affinity Group (JAG)
Presidential Management Fellows at USAID (PMF@AID)
PSC Association
Returned Peace Corps Volunteers at USAID (RPCV@USAID)
USAID Muslims Employee Resource Group (UMERG)
Women@AID
Young Professionals at USAID (YP@AID)