Trump created ‘panel of experts’ to justify transgender military ban
(NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty)
The Trump administration has manoeuvred its way around the federal block on a transgender military ban by creating a panel of anti-trans organisations to justify a revised version of the legislation.
The report, which has been spearheaded by Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, was designed to provide pretextual justification for Trump’s ban.
The figureheads involved in the panel are distinctly anti-trans. Vice President Mike Pence took a leading role in the creation of the report, along with Ryan Anderson, an anti-trans activist, and Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council, an anti-LGBTQ lobbying group.
The report, which has been crafted behind the scenes here,
Within the report, the Trump administration argues that trans service would “erode reasonable expectations of privacy” by “blurring the line that differentiates the standards and policies applicable to men and women, says Slate.
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 20: US President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the National Republican Congressional Committee March Dinner at the National Building Museum on March 20, 2018 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)
According to a New England Journal of Medicine study, having a transgender service military member costs the US army just 22 cents a month.
Trans people have been allowed to enlist in the military since 1 Jan 2018.
The initial blanket ban, which was rejected by federal judges, resurfaced in a different format as of Friday.
The new ban recommends that transgender people are blocked from applying to the military unless under “exceptional circumstances.”
Between 4,000 and 10,000 US active-duty and reserve service members are believed to be transgender.
Nancy Pelosi has slammed the ban, stating it is “the same cowardly, disgusting ban the president announced last summer”.
On Friday, the Pentagon said it would continue to comply with federal law, and “continue to assess and retain transgender service members”.
While several federal courts have taken a stand against the ban, it looks like it will be up to the Supreme Court to resolve the matter for good.
In the meantime, the Trump administration will be pushing against the federal courts for the bank to take effect.
