Transgender soldiers will ‘undermine’ military readiness, pundit claims
A pundit has claimed that allowing trans people in the US military will impact on “readiness” and undermine morale.
Gay, lesbian and bisexual people have been permitted to openly serve in the US military since 2013, when Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was repealed.
The US military continues to ban transgender people from serving under outdated medical regulations – but senior sources have suggested that the Pentagon will shortly announce plans to scrap that ban as well.
Jerry Boykin, the vice president of the anti-LGBT Family Research Council, claimed the policy would impact on military readiness.
He said: “Before changing any policy, the impact on military readiness has to be the first consideration. The Pentagon must answer whether this proposed policy makes our military more capable of performing its mission. The answer is a very clear and resounding no.
“This has everything to do with President Obama’s social agenda for the military, but it has nothing to do with enhancing military readiness. No new science has led to the Pentagon’s transgender study—only the politics of the Obama administration and the transgender movement.
“Allowing the Obama administration to use the military as a tool of social re-engineering will only undermine morale, unit cohesion, and readiness.
“It’s time that we allow the military to focus on its only job—defending our country against its enemies.”
Jailed whistleblower Chelsea Manning has been engaged in legal action over the ban, claiming she has faced discrimination as her military prison did not allow her to fully transition.
In the UK, trans people are allowed to serve openly – and Lieutenant General Andrew Gregoryrecently told PinkNews it might even be possible for transgender women to serve on the frontlinein the infantry.
The Chief of Defence Personnel told PinkNews: “We do not yet have any female transgender people serving in the infantry. We haven’t had to address it because we haven’t had the issue come up.
“It would be a very interesting test case if it did come up. If somebody – birth gender male who physically has all the physical strength and durability but had transitioned, they might well be able.
“What we continue to do as we better understand these things is to look at our policy. That’s my response – to make sure as far as possible they are inclusive. It’s an interesting question.”
