When I first saw the “I am a cisgender millennial” recruitment video for the Central Intelligence Agency, I thought it was a spoof, an attempt to bring Monty Python to Langley.

Then, I realized the building footage was real: The CIA doesn’t have a sense of humor. When I left the Directorate of Operations way back in the Clinton years, the new employee center had little notepads on desks that read, “The CIA: We Hire The Handicapped.” It provided amusement to the better young case officers who’d grown tired of the internal rot and flotsam rising to the top of the institution.

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