IC Workforce & Organization — 2026-08-25

Purged LGBTQ Intelligence Officers Organize at CIA Resignation Party as Workforce Exodus Continues

BLUFInformal networking among purged LGBTQ officers lacks any institutional mechanism for reinstatement, but the gathering documents a persistent morale and retention cost from DEI-driven personnel actions that compounds existing workforce gaps.

Intelligence correspondent Sasha Ingber, writing on Substack under her HUMINT outlet, reported attending a "resignation party" on Friday at a gay karaoke bar in Virginia held for Julia Curlee, a former CIA officer who transitioned openly while serving and was laid off during the Trump administration's second term 1. Curlee had written in The Atlantic on August 17 that Trump officials knew she was trans from the start but that the issue became disqualifying only after it became public 1. Ingber reported that attendees, described as LGBTQ intelligence officers who said they were "pressured and purged" over DEI, voiced expectation that a future administration could create a path back into intelligence roles 2. Ingber could not immediately reach Curlee for comment 2. The Daily Caller, IJR, and WorldNetDaily republished the account of the party without independent additional reporting 234.

Analysis
The gathering reflects informal networking among ousted LGBTQ officers rather than any structured reinstatement effort; no agency channel, litigation, or administration commitment underlies claims that attendees expect a path back under a future administration. Sourcing traces to a single reporter's account of a private event, with the Daily Caller's tagged-primary version itself a rewrite and IJR and WorldNetDaily further pickups adding no independent reporting. The remarks attributed to attendees may reflect one journalist's characterization of mood and aspiration rather than a coordinated plan or organized constituency. The episode does document continuing attrition and morale effects from the DEI-driven personnel actions, a condition that persists regardless of whether any organized return effort materializes.

4 sources