Tulsi Gabbard purges intelligence officers over out-of-context conversations conservatives decry as ‘transgender sex chats’

President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, has fired more than 100 intelligence officers after far-right activist Christopher Rufo published what appear to be selectively framed excerpts from years-old employee resource group conversations in the intelligence community.

Keep up with the latest in LGBTQ+ news and politics. Sign up for The Advocate's email newsletter.

Gabbard announced the mass terminations during an interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters on Tuesday, portraying the firings as part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in the federal workforce. When Watters asked her what she had done about what he called “these transgender sex chats,” Gabbard responded that she had already revoked the security clearances of those involved, calling their discussions “an egregious violation of trust.”

“This behavior is unacceptable and those involved WILL be held accountable,” she later wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “These disgusting chat groups were immediately shut down when @POTUS issued his EO ending the DEI insanity the Biden Admin was obsessed with.”

Far-right activists target LGBTQ+ employees

Rufo, a senior fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute, has been at the center of the national effort to dismantle DEI programs and LGBTQ+ inclusion in government, schools, and corporations. Monday on X, Rufo framed his report in inflammatory language, claiming he had obtained “logs from the NSA’s secret transgender sex chatroom” and accusing intelligence officers of using government platforms to discuss “genital castration, artificial vaginas, piss fetishes, sex polycules, and gangbangs—all on government time.”

Rufo’s report, published by City Journal, focused on conversations in two NSA-run ERG chatrooms, LBTQA and IC_Pride_TWG, that had existed for years as support spaces for LGBTQ+ intelligence personnel. His report claims that intelligence officers discussed topics such as gender transition, hormone therapy, and polyamory, presenting these discussions as scandalous and inappropriate.

Trump’s war on DEI in federal agencies

The Trump administration dismantled all employee resource groups in January, eliminating spaces where LGBTQ+ employees and other marginalized federal workers could connect and find community. These groups were previously officially sanctioned in many agencies and provided resources for employees navigating discrimination, health care access, and professional development.

The NSA’s Pride ERG and similar LGBTQ+ support groups were shut down as part of Trump’s executive order targeting DEI programs across federal agencies. Many of the conversations Rufo publicized took place between 2022 and 2024, before these spaces were eliminated when they were legitimate workplace support groups.

NSA downplays scale of allegations

The National Security Agency has acknowledged that the situation may not be as widespread or severe as Gabbard claims. In a Tuesday statement on X, the NSA said it was aware of the controversy but emphasized that the alleged misuse of Intelink was limited to “a small group of individuals” and was being investigated internally.

“NSA is aware of posts that appear to show inappropriate discussions by IC personnel,” the agency wrote. “IC collaboration platforms are intended to drive mission outcomes. Potential misuse of these platforms by a small group of individuals does not represent the community. Investigations to address this misuse of government systems are ongoing.”