President Obama has been pushing for greater inclusion of the LGBT community in nearly all sectors of society for more than two years. And now it seems he has his eyes set on lifting a longstanding ban on transgender citizens serving in the military.
According to Buzzfeed, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter spoke at a troop event in Kandahar, Afghanistan, this past Sunday and shared his support for allowing transgender people to serve in the military.
“I’m very open-minded about … what their personal lives and proclivities are, provided they can do what we need them to do for us. That’s the important criteria. Are they going to be excellent service members? And I don’t think anything but their suitability for service should preclude them,” Carter said.
The following day, White House press secretary Josh Earnest revealed that President Obama shares Carter’s thoughts on transgender soldiers.
“The president agrees with the sentiment that all Americans who are qualified to serve should be able to serve,” Earnest said. “And for that reason, we here at the White House welcome the comments from the secretary of defense. But in terms — of additional steps that the Department of Defense will take to address this matter, I’d refer you to the secretary’s office.”
Current military policy bans transgender citizens from serving, but unlike laws like “don’t ask, don’t tell,” which banned openly gay, lesbian and bisexual citizens from serving, there is no official law about transgender service. Therefore, there’s no need for congressional action to change the military policy.
As of right now, Pentagon spokesperson Nate Christensen says that “no specific review of the department’s transgender policy” is happening. However, a “routine review” of medical standards that include the transgender service ban had begun in early February.
Considering how much society is learning to embrace the LGBT community, hopefully, the military will follow suit and eventually change their policies to allow for people of all gender expressions to serve.
