A group of 45 U.S. senators are urging the Pentagon to hold off on President Trump’s controversial announcement to discharge transgender troops, at least until the Defense Department finishes its ongoing review on the matter.
On Wednesday, Trump fired off a series of tweets announcing that transgender individuals would no longer be allowed to enlist or serve in the military. But in a letter to senior military leaders Thursday, Gen. Jospeh Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, insisted the that “there will be no modifications to the current policy until the President’s direction has been received by the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary has issued implementation guidelines.”
“In the meantime, we will continue to treat all of our personnel with respect,” Dunford added.
The White House said that the details on how to implement the transgender ban would be ironed out later, though it did not say when.
The senators’ letter, written by New York Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand, was addressed to Secretary of Defense James Mattis. In it, Gellibrand urges Mattis to complete his ongoing review on whether transgender people should be allowed to serve openly in the military.
“We strongly oppose this policy change, and urge you to advise the President against it,” Gillibrand and the senators wrote. “This announcement contradicts existing Defense Department policies, undermines our military readiness, and puts our transgender service members as well as their commanders in an impossible situation.”
The senators also asked that “at a minimum, you do not separate any service member due to the person’s gender identity until you have completed the assessment that you announced on June 30, have reported back to Congress about any challenges that you foresee in the accession and retention of transgender troops, and determined the Department is unable to mitigate these challenges.”
“Transgender Americans who serve in our military put their lives on the line to protect America,” the letter said. “They make up a small percentage of the military population, but are reportedly twice as likely to serve in the military as other Americans.”
The letter was signed by Gellibrand and 44 other senators just as the senate was voting on the GOP’s so-called “skinny repeal,” which was defeated early Friday morning.
The full text of the Senators’ joint letter is included here:
July 28, 2017
The Honorable James N. Mattis
Secretary of Defense
1100 Defense Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20301
Dear Secretary Mattis,
We are writing regarding the President’s announcement via Twitter yesterday that transgender Americans can no longer serve in the military. We strongly oppose this policy change, and urge you to advise the President against it. This announcement contradicts existing Defense Department policies, undermines our military readiness, and puts our transgender service members as well as their commanders in an impossible situation. We appreciate General Dunford’s message that no policy changes should be made until implementation guidelines have been issued. We further write to request that, at a minimum, you do not separate any service member due to the person’s gender identity until you have completed the assessment that you announced on June 30, have reported back to Congress about any challenges that you foresee in the accession and retention of transgender troops, and determined the Department is unable to mitigate these challenges.
Transgender Americans who serve in our military put their lives on the line to protect America. They make up a small percentage of the military population, but are reportedly twice as likely to serve in the military as other Americans. Transgender service members have been serving openly since the policy was changed in June 2016 and in that time no service has reported any issues associated with their service.
Forcing these brave Americans out of our military would be cruel and discriminatory. It would harm our readiness by denying the military of these service members’ capabilities and requiring the military to replace them at a time when the recruiting pool for the services continues to shrink. It will harm morale in the military as service members see their brothers and sisters in arms – some of whom are currently forward deployed – thrown out simply because of their identity. And the uncertainty associated with making policy this way is already harming our military readiness and morale, as transgender service members and their superiors struggle to make sense of the policy and what it means for them today and tomorrow.
Any American who wants to serve and meets the standards should be allowed to serve our country. Transgender service members are serving with honor and distinction today and we ask that you, as our Secretary of Defense, assure them that their service will not be ended simply because of who they are.