Energy

Biden Energy Dept Official Once Wrote That America Should Be ‘Queering Nuclear Weapons’

Flickr/DHS Photo by Zachary Hupp

A nuclear national security official inside the Biden-Harris Department of Energy (DOE) once wrote that “queering nuclear weapons” and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives would strengthen security.

Sneha Nahir, appointed as a special assistant to the DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration in February, wrote in a co-authored June 2023 article that “queer theory informs the struggle for nuclear justice and disarmament” and that “queer theory helps us not only see the bad of a world with nuclear weapons, but also imagine the good of a world without them.” In a separate April 2023 paper, she argued that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives “can serve as a tool to strengthen nuclear security.”

“Equity and inclusion for queer people is not just a box-ticking exercise in ethics and social justice; it is also essential for creating effective nuclear policy,” Nahir wrote in the June 2023 article published by the Bulletin of the Atomic Sciences. “Discrimination against queer people can undermine nuclear security and increase nuclear risk. And queer theory can help change how nuclear practitioners, experts, and the public think about nuclear weapons.”

We raise the Pride Flag at DOE in celebration of the vibrancy and courage of the LGBTQ+ community here and across America. Let us live up to our nation’s highest ideals–a place where all are treated equally, every person belongs, and we never stop striving for a brighter future. pic.twitter.com/WMyK4VYYNA

— U.S. Department of Energy (@ENERGY) June 11, 2024

Prior to starting her position at DOE, Nahir worked as a research analyst for the Stimson Center’s nuclear security program, according to the DOE. She also worked for European institutions like the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Further, Nahir wrote in the June 2023 article that a DEI push in America’s nuclear workforce can also enhance security by diversifying viewpoints because, for example, “the threat posed by some White supremacist groups to nuclear facilities may go undetected if a White-majority workforce does not perceive these ideological leanings as indicators of a relevant nuclear security threat.” She further asserted in that piece that viewing nuclear policy through a queer theory “lens” inherently means rejecting the idea that “nuclear deterrence creates security and disarmament creates vulnerability.”

The DOE did not respond immediately to a request for comment.