Mike Huckabee claims transgender soldiers would turn military into a ‘social club’
Republican Presidential wannabe Mike Huckabee has claimed that allowing trans people in the military would turn it into a “social club”.
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and bisexual people have been permitted to openly serve in the US military since 2013, when Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was repealed.
The US military continues to ban transgender people from serving under outdated medical regulations – which disqualifies people from service if they have “current or history of psychosexual conditions, including but not limited to transsexualism, exhibitionism, transvestism, voyeurism, and other paraphilias” – but the Pentagon is readying plans to lift the ban.
However, anti-LGBT Republican Mike Huckabee has claimed that transgender people continue should be discriminated against, because they aren’t capable of doing jobs.
He claimed: “Men are men, women are women. There’s a difference. The military should understand that.
“The military is not a social organization. The military is not a place where we try out experiments. The military is designed to kill people and break things.
“The purpose of the military is to train a fighting force to defend this country and to fight our battles.
“It’s not to fight the battles of sexual identity or orientation. It’s to fight the battles that threaten American sovereignty and American freedom.”
He added: “The military not designed to be a social club or some type of organisation where we help people feel better about themselves.
“If there’s something that makes it difficult for you to defend this country, maybe the military is not the right place for you.”
Presumably Huckabee would want to ban himself from the military – as he previously joked that he wishes he were transgender to spy on teenage girls.
The Republican has also claimed that child molestation is “not unforgivable”, while defending anti-gay activist Josh Duggar.
