WASHINGTON, D.C. — NCLR and GLAD, two leading groups fighting President Trump’s transgender military ban in court, have applauded the bipartisan group of Members from the House of Representatives in introducing a bill that would block the Trump Administration’s ban on transgender servicemembers in the military. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., would restrict the Department of Defense from removing servicemembers already serving based on their gender identity and complements Senate legislation introduced last month. The bill comes as additional leaders speak out against Trump’s reckless policy. Friday, former Secretary of the Army Eric Fanning voiced his strong opposition to the ban in an op-ed in Time.
“President Trump’s unprecedented attack on service members is causing serious harm both to our troops and to the military as an institution,” said Shannon Minter, NCLR’s Legal Director. “We are grateful to the bipartisan Members of Congress who are taking a stand to combat this reckless policy.”
“This ban needs to end, and it needs to end now,” said Jennifer Levi, Director of GLAD’s Transgender Rights Project. “Top military leaders, servicemembers, veterans, and a bipartisan group of Congress Members have spoken out forcefully against this disruptive and senseless ban, because of the harm it is already causing to our armed forces. Our legal team is working overtime to stop President Trump from doing more harm to our national security, and we’re thankful for leaders in Congress who are doing the same.”
In the weeks since the president announced this discriminatory and reckless policy to block transgender people from serving in the military, NCLR and GLAD have asked the courts to block the president’s policy, and are leading two of the four legal suits filed against the president—representing nearly a dozen transgender servicemembers, from coast to coast.
I’m glad someone is fighting for us out there. I’m trans and have been in the military for 4 years. I didn’t join in hopes that someone would let me be open about who I am, I joined to serve. The possiblity of being kicked out for being told it’s okay now for you and it’s safe, to then be out and told I can no longer serve, that scares me. I joined to fight for the freedoms of this country knowing my freedoms would be revoked in the first place, but now there’s no taking me being out back, and to not be able to serve to keep defending the freedoms of the people who want to take more freedom from me. Live and let live. I thought we built this country to be free.. this is not the Land of the free, but the land of the restricted. #separation of church and state
#fight your own fight from now on
#i don’t see anyone stepping up to the plate to take the place of someone you want to kick out.
#who still fights for your rights while putting aside their own
#focus on real issues