The Trump administration announced late Friday, March 23, that, with a few exceptions, transgender individuals would be banned from serving in the U.S. military. While President Trump had made a similar announcement last July, in October a federal judge partially blocked the president’s ban, allowing transgender individuals to enlist beginning January 1 of this year. The latest ban is expected to be the subject of an ongoing legal fight as LGBT activists seek to force their way into America’s fighting forces.
In a statement the White House press secretary announced that President Trump had issued his latest memorandum to clear the way for Defense Secretary James Mattis “to implement a new policy developed through extensive study by senior uniformed and civilian leaders, including combat veterans.”
Based on that study, the statement continued, “the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security have concluded that the accession or retention of individuals with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria [read: transgender behavior] — those who may require substantial medical treatment, including through medical drugs or surgery — presents considerable risk to military effectiveness and lethality.”
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The updated policy will free up the military “to apply well-established mental and physical health standards — including those regarding the use of medical drugs — equally to all individuals who want to join and fight for the best military force the world has ever seen,” the press statement explained.
In his recommendations for a new policy, made in February, Mattis had emphasized the importance of having troops that were ready to deploy and engage effectively on the battlefield. Similarly in February, the Pentagon implemented a policy that would dismiss soldiers who are not able to deploy for one year — a policy that would impact transgender personnel subject to medical procedures not available in a war zone.
In its own statement the Department of Justice said that the DoD made its policy decision on transgenders following “comprehensive study and analysis,” adding that Mattis had concluded the “new policies should be adopted regarding individuals with gender dysphoria that are consistent with military effectiveness and lethality, budgetary constraints, and applicable law.”
The Justice Department said that it would “continue to defend the Department of Defense’s lawful authority to create and implement personnel policies they have determined are necessary to best defend our nation.”
Among those decrying the latest ban was House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who called Trump’s latest memorandum “the same cowardly, disgusting ban the president announced last summer. No one with the strength and bravery to serve in the U.S. military should be turned away because of who they are. The president’s hateful ban is purpose-built to humiliate our brave transgender members of the military who serve with honor and dignity.”
First among those promising to fight the ban in court was California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who vowed to “take every measure available to prevent [the president’s] discriminatory action that harms or marginalizes transgender service members.”
By contrast, former U.S. Marine Tony Perkins, head of the conservative policy group Family Research Council, applauded the move. “President Trump is moving the military away from the crippling policies of the Obama era that left our nation’s defenses at its lowest levels of readiness since before WWII,” observed Perkins.
He added that the president recognizes “the last thing we should be doing is diverting tax payer dollars from mission-critical training to funding for controversial gender reassignment surgeries and transgender sensitivity training for service members. The president is keeping his promises and advancing policies essential to keeping our military strong and our country safe.”
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