As Democratic presidential candidates are beginning to ramp up to the second Democratic debate, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) has added her preferred gender pronouns to her Twitter account.
"U.S. Senator, former teacher, and candidate for president. Wife, mom (Amelia, Alex, Bailey, @CFPB), grandmother, and Okie. She/hers. Official campaign account," her bio now reads. Warren thus clarified that she identifies as a cisgender woman.
The @CFPB refers to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which Warren played a significant role in creating during the Obama administration.
Politico reporter Alex Thompson was the first to notice Warren's preferred pronouns on Twitter. He noted that Julian Castro is the only other candidate to have gender pronouns displayed in his Twitter profile.
.@ewarren has added her pronouns to her twitter bio. Julián is the only other one I found in a quick canvass of the other candidates. pic.twitter.com/43lqYRuKFt
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) July 18, 2019
Gender is not the first identity issue Warren has encountered. Long dogged by accusations faking Native American heritage, Warren accepted a challenge from President Donald Trump to take a DNA test. In October of last year, she released the test results, claiming they proved her Native American heritage. The tests indicated she could have anywhere from 1/64th to 1/1,024th Native American heritage, prompting mockery from many on the right.
She listed herself as Native American between 1987 and 1995 while she taught at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and then when she began teaching at Harvard Law School in 1995.
While she tried to initially treat the DNA test as vindication, she was attacked both from the right and the left, as many liberals consider DNA tests an inappropriate way to establish Native heritage. In February of this year, Warren apologized for calling herself Native American, telling the Washington Post she was "sorry for furthering confusion on tribal sovereignty and tribal citizenship and harm that resulted."
"She is sorry that she was not more mindful of this earlier in her career," a campaign spokesman added.