MTV hits back at Donald Trump by inviting transgender troops to the Video Music Awards
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MTV has invited trans members of the military to the Video Music Awards on Sunday.
The move follows President Donald Trump’s sudden announcement on Twitter last month that trans people would not be allowed to serve in the military.
Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Paul Haverstick told CNN: “MTV has requested service member participation for this year’s VMAs.
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“At this time the Department of Defence is reviewing the parameters of the request.”
Earlier today, it was revealed that Trump’s administration is ready to brief the Pentagon about the ban.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Defence Secretary James Mattis would then have the power to dismiss service personnel purely because they are transgender.
MTV has taken multiple stances in support of LGBT+ rights over the past few months.
It announced that its VMA categories and awards would be gender-neutral, with the statue formerly known as Moonman now going by Moon Person.
MTV backed a campaign featuring RuPaul, Rita Ora and Lena Dunham which called attention to the gay purge in Chechnya.
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And the company sparked controversy earlier this year by adopting gender-neutral categories for its films and TV awards for the first time.
Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus, Fifth Harmony and Lorde will be among those performing at Sunday’s awards show.
The Admiral of the US Coast Guard last month said he would defy the ban on trans military servicepeople, adding that he had personally spoken to all out trans members of the Coast Guard.
Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, subsequently had to clarify that there would be no change of Pentagon policy until details of the proposal were laid out.
The decision was allegedly made to appease anti-LGBT Republican lawmakers, as Trump struggles to pass his domestic policy agenda.
Out trans former Navy SEAL Kristin Beck challenged President Trump to tell her to her face that she is “not worthy” after he announced the policy.
She also noted the negligible cost of providing the healthcare to trans troops compared to other military costs.
Trump has since claimed he was doing the military “a great favour” by banning out transgender people from serving.
In a follow-up statement, the President said he has “great respect for the community” but that he thinks he is doing a “great favour” to the military by attempting to ban trans people from serving openly.
He said: “I have great respect for the community… I think I’ve had great support, or I’ve had great support from that community. I got a lot of votes.
“But the transgender, the military’s working on it now… It’s been a very difficult situation and I think I’m doing a lot of people a favour by coming out and just saying it.”
He added: “As you know, it’s been a very complicated issue for the military, and I think I’m doing the military a great favour.”
A poll found that a majority of military families oppose the ban.
