Defense Secretary Mattis delays Trump’s ban on transgender service members

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis has announced that the Department of Defense will not implement President Trump’s ban on transgender Americans from openly serving in the United States Military until further study by experts. On Sunday at the MTV VMAs, GLAAD, and SPARTA, a LGBTQ service members and veterans group, joined…

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Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN file federal lawsuit challenging Trump’s ban on military service by transgender individuals

Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN Monday filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Trump administration’s ban on military service by transgender individuals. The lawsuit—brought in response to President Trump’s formal issuance of directions to military authorities late Friday—was filed on behalf of two individuals who seek to join the military; one current service member…

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HNBA on Arpaio pardon: ‘President Trump failed to demonstrate the restraint that the circumstances warranted’

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the National President of the Hispanic National Bar Association, Pedro J. Torres-Díaz, issued the following statement in response to President Trump’s pardon of former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted in late July of criminal contempt for failing to comply with a United States District Court Judge’s order to stop…

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National Nurses opposes Trump threat to end DACA program

OAKLAND, Calif. — National Nurses United is calling on the Trump Administration to withdraw its threat to terminate the highly successful Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that has enabled young people who came to the U.S. undocumented as children to remain in the U.S. The young people who have been protected from being…

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Condemnation mounts on presidential guidance re transgender service members

LGBT advocacy groups have spoken out against the White House’s directive  to carry out President Trump’s transgender military ban. The unprecedented policy indefinitely extends the ban on qualified transgender recruits from entering the military and rips away at least some medically necessary, transition-related health care from currently serving transgender troops. “This horrifying, vicious assault on thousands of…

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OutServe-SLDN condemns White House purge of trans service members

WASHINGTON, D.C.– Breaking faith with top generals and admirals, President Trump’s White House has issued guidance to the Department of Defense, which would effectively purge anyone found to be transgender from the armed services. This policy would purge thousands of currently serving transgender troops over the coming months and years by denying them re-enlistment; threatening to cut…

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Trump pardons former Sheriff Joe Arpaio

WASHINGTON, D.C. ― President Donald Trump on Friday pardoned Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpaio was convicted of criminal contempt last month for violating a 2011 order that barred Arpaio and his office from detaining individuals solely based on suspicions about their legal status. Arpaio, 85, was scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 5. “Throughout…

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Hundreds of thousands speak out on #TransMilitaryBan on Change.org

With the White House announcing new rules for implementing President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender service members hundreds of thousands of people have signed a petition on Change.org to allow transgender people into the U.S. military. The petition, started by Kaitlin Jozokos, has nearly 230,000 signatures and and momentum continues to build. The petition states:…

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