DES MOINES — According to an article published by the Wall Street Journal late Wednesday night, the White House is expected to submit direction to the Pentagon on how to implement a ban on transgender people in the U.S. military in the coming days. President Trump had previously announced the upcoming ban in a series of tweets on July 26, but had provided no official policy guidance until this point.
The memo directs the Pentagon to deny transgender individuals admittance into the military and to stop spending on medical treatment for transgender people currently serving, according to U.S. officials cited in the Wall Street Journal article. It also indicates that transgender members currently serving would be subject to removal at Defense Secretary James Mattis’ discretion based on their “deployability”.
One Iowa Executive Director Daniel Hoffman-Zinnel issued a statement condemning the White House’s upcoming guidance.
“Transgender service members are just as ‘deployable’ as their cisgender colleagues, and any attempts to remove them based on this criteria is blatant discrimination. There have already been multiple lawsuits filed to stop this unlawful ban from going into effect, and we applaud those who are actively fighting against it in court.
“After President Trump announced the initial ban, we pointed out that according to studies by the Williams Institute and the Veterans Health Administration, transgender people are more likely to serve in the military than the general population. This is despite being disrespected at nearly every turn by President Trump, Rep. Steve King, our nation’s policies, and the harmful stereotypes to which they are subjected.
“The courageous and resilient transgender people who serve and have served our nation deserve to be honored, not denigrated, called a ‘disruption’, and subjected to discriminatory reviews of their ‘deployability’. We call on those who spoke out against this ban when President Trump originally announced it, including Sen. Joni Ernst, to push back against this guidance and ensure our transgender service people and veterans receive the respect they deserve.”
via press release
