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I think for younger people, this is probably feeling like a betrayal. Almost like, "The boss said smoking was OK as long as we stayed in the smoking area and didn't litter our butts everywhere, but then they just up and fired everyone that took smoke breaks the other day."

"Don't smoke at work" is an easy thing to say, and most people adhere to that in general. But it's still fucked up to fire the smokers, when company policy just literal days before was "it's fine, just follow these basic rules."

Older people grew up keeping their private life private a lot more than younger people today, who have grown up online having their data mined constantly. Just by the nature of having grown up without ubiquitous data harvesting devices feeding analytics companies, we had more privacy as a default condition.

These particular folks were told they had a safe space for the chats they had, and then the rug was pulled from under them.

It may have just been a meme dump, or a place to vent and get support.

Maybe someone is asking how well insurance covers a procedure or how to ask the doctor. Maybe someone is asking what is considered proper etiquette post-transition when they're in a new social role. Maybe someone is asking who wants to get drinks after work.

I doubt it was gorey or pornographic. As you say, it's work.

Spy work requires a fair amount of social skill and socially being aware of your partners and their ticks and habits and personality. Like in many professions, socializing is part of the job.

The firings stem from out-of-context chat logs leaked by far-right commentator Chris Rufo on Monday. Sources tell Erin in the Morning that the chat functioned as an ERG-adjacent LGBTQ+ safe space, where participants discussed topics like gender-affirming surgery, hormone therapy, workplace LGBTQ+ policies, and broader queer issues. Rufo, however, framed these conversations as evidence of misconduct, claiming that “NSA, CIA, and DIA employees discuss genital castration” and alleging discussions of “fetishes, kink, and sex.” To Rufo and his audience, merely talking about being transgender and the realities of transition is enough to be labeled “fetish” content.

I just watched the Jesse Waters clip linked in the above quote. He claims that the chat was pornographic and uses as justification an out-of-context quote from one trans woman saying she gets euphoria every time she pees after her bottom surgery, and that it's easier than it's ever been. No details, not even a "because I have a vagina now" or a "because I don't have a penis". She only said that peeing is now easy and makes her happy.