Yesterday Mark Green, Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of the Army, took to Facebook to address the anti-transgender statements he made in a radio interview last year. In fact, Mark Green’s response was an about-face statement as he voiced his support for LGBTQ equality in the U.S. Army.
“4) I believe that every American has a right to defend their country regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and religion. It’s the radical left that won’t allow the latter,” Mark Green said on his Facebook page.
Green’s statement comes a week after GLAAD uncovered an unedited audio interview between the state senator and “The Hotwash with CJ and Alex” on June 3, 2016 and shared it on twitter and with Huffington Post.
“GLAAD unearthed and shared the full, unedited audio interview in which Mark Green called transgender Americans an ‘evil’ that must be ‘crushed,’” said Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD. “While this change of heart is a step in the right direction, Green’s anti-LGBTQ history still makes him unfit to be the next Army Secretary, and he has shown that he often forgets what he says.”
Mark Green’s original comments can be found below.
This audio, in fact, follows what is a long anti-LGBTQ history by the state senator. Mark Green has insisted that being “transgender is a disease,” was the lead sponsor of a Tennessee bill that would give companies license to discrimination against the LGBTQ community, and backed another Tennessee bill that would allow therapists to refuse service to LGBTQ clients.
Green’s new comments voicing support for LGBTQ equality in the army and open transgender military service are welcomed, but in case he forgets this Facebook post (because he seemed to forget this radio interview), GLAAD will be watching what happens next, alongside LGBTQ service members who have and are serving our country honorable and deserve leaders who support them.
