Presidential Memorandum: Military Service by Transgender Individuals

The President has returned the Defense Department’s and Homeland Security Department’s policy on accepting transgender people to it’s current status. The President signed a Memorandum yesterday in that endeavor;

Sec. 2. Directives. The Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to the U.S. Coast Guard, shall:

(a) maintain the currently effective policy regarding accession of transgender individuals into military service beyond January 1, 2018, until such time as the Secretary of Defense, after consulting with the Secretary of Homeland Security, provides a recommendation to the contrary that I find convincing; and

(b) halt all use of DoD or DHS resources to fund sex reassignment surgical procedures for military personnel, except to the extent necessary to protect the health of an individual who has already begun a course of treatment to reassign his or her sex.

The Memorandum becomes effective on January 1, 2018 (for paragraph (a)) and March 23, 2018 (for paragraph (b)), but actually, that policy remains effective like it has since the beginning of time. The President explains why;

In my judgment, the previous Administration failed to identify a sufficient basis to conclude that terminating the Departments’ longstanding policy and practice would not hinder military effectiveness and lethality, disrupt unit cohesion, or tax military resources, and there remain meaningful concerns that further study is needed to ensure that continued implementation of last year’s policy change would not have those negative effects.

Of course, the community that wants general acceptance of the transgender lifestyle is losing it’s collective mind.

For example, the Victory Institute, which tells me that they “work to increase the number of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in public office and to provide programming, service, and other support to ensure their success” emailed me;

“It’s disgusting, and an absolute disgrace, that a man who dodged service for his country is now ordering the Pentagon to denigrate those who are already serving it. We have a president who is committed to white supremacist ideology and with each policy action declaring war on equality for all Americans – defending the KKK, blocking Muslim immigrants and visitors, and now banning transgender people from serving their country and pardoning a convicted racist. The time for words and debate has ended. In order to save our democracy from the clutches of bigotry and hatred we must unite and fight back – and fight back hard. LGBTQ people exist in all communities and an attack on us is an attack on everyone. We will not go silently into the night. We will not learn our place and be forced back into the closet. We will march. We will train. We will run for office and reclaim our democracy one election at a time. 2018 is months away and we will remember those that stood silent in the face of abject discrimination. LGBTQ people are fired up and training to run for office so that we can replace those who have turned their backs on our community.”

The Civil and Human Rights Coalition also emailed;

“Just days after President Trump addressed our troops at Fort Myer about the strength of our force, this announcement only seeks to undermine military readiness. He has yet again attacked those brave, patriotic individuals who are serving, and seek to serve, in our military, simply because they are transgender. There is no reason for this move beyond bigotry and politics.

We agreed with the president when he said on Monday, ‘The men and women of our military operate as one team, with one shared mission, and one shared sense of purpose.’ We are hopeful that the Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security will exercise the authority granted to them by the president and stand up for the rights of all, including patriotic transgender Americans, who are willing to serve and to protect the security of our country. ”

The Palm Center emotes in my inbox;

“Instead of working to keep the American people safe, our Commander in Chief has taken aim at his own capably serving troops, contradicting the conclusions of the American Legion, former Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, dozens of retired Generals and Admirals, 18 foreign militaries, and years of research conducted by the military itself and outside scholars. A billion-dollar witch hunt targeting thousands of current service members will not save the taxpayers money or strengthen the military but will cause disruptions and undermine military readiness, just as the failed ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy did.”

So now we know how they FEEL, but there is nothing concrete in their conclusions, except that their constituency which plows money into their coffers are unhappy.

Maybe they should get behind the troops and support them as they try to make the world a more peaceful place instead of confusing a Defense Department engaged in the serious business of war.

Category: Politics