Poll finds military families oppose ban on transgender troops
A poll has found that most military families are opposed to Trump’s proposed ban on transgender troops.
Trump enraged LGBT activists last week by announcing a ban on transgender people serving in the US military.
In a string of Twitter posts, the President claimed that the military “cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender would entail”.
The decision, which was allegedly made to appease anti-LGBT Republican lawmakers, has distressed the thousands of transgender people who are already serving in the armed forces.
Trump had claimed the decision was supported by “my generals” despite not consulting the Pentagon.
Today, polling has found that military households are opposed to Trump’s diktat.
The survey, conducted by Qunnipiac Polling, found that 55 percent of voters in military households believe that transgender people should be allowed to serve in the military. Just 39 percent are opposed.
Among the general voting public, support for transgender troops is higher, at 68 percent.
The only demographic group to actually support Trump’s ban is Republicans, who unsurpisingly oppose transgender service by a margin of 60 – 32 percent.
However. every other party, gender, education, age or racial group supports transgender service by margins of 22 percentage points or higher.
Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said: “They put on uniforms and face the same risks as their brothers and sisters in arms for little reward other than protecting their country.
“Voters say a soldier is a soldier, no matter what his/her gender identity is.
“Voters say, ‘Let them serve’.”
Meanwhile, the poll found overwhelming support for a law to ban discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, despite continued Republican opposition to the Equality Act.
There is no federal law that tackles anti-gay discrimination, as anti-LGBT Republicans in Congress have long blocked the Equality Act and its predecessor ENDA, which would have amended civil rights protections to include LGBT people.
But American voters say by a margin of 89 percent to 8 percent that it should be illegal for an employer to discriminate against an employee based on sexuality.
This includes 76 percent of Republican voters, and an astounding 99 percent of Democratic voters.
Earlier this week, 56 retired military officials spoke out against President Trump’s planned ban on transgender troops.
In a challenge to Trump, the 56 retired Generals and Admirals spoke out on the issue a joint letter.
They wrote: “The Commander in Chief has tweeted a total ban of honorably serving transgender troops.
“This proposed ban, if implemented, would cause significant disruptions, deprive the military of mission-critical talent, and compromise the integrity of transgender troops who would be forced to live a lie, as well as non-transgender peers who would be forced to choose between reporting their comrades or disobeying policy.
“As a result, the proposed ban would degrade readiness even more than the failed ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy. Patriotic transgender Americans who are serving—
and who want to serve—must not be dismissed, deprived of medically necessary health care, or forced to compromise their integrity or hide their identity.”
