Blog
September 2, 2017
I am honored to fight on behalf of courageous transgender Americans currently serving and those who wish to serve. I am also incredibly proud to be taking on this fight at a time when the question is being called on whether America will remain a nation dedicated to its founding principles of liberty, justice and equality.
This week has been among the most intense of my professional career. A little over 3 weeks ago, GLAD with our partners at NCLR filed a lawsuit challenging President Trump’s ban on transgender people serving openly in the military. We jumped quickly to defend service members at the first sign of the seriousness of this attack. We were ready and moving forward even though some said not to worry, a tweet is not a policy. GLAD worried. I was worried. We all know by now that this is not a president who backs down once he starts making threats. He’s the “double down” president who has not retreated from his most hostile attacks on marginalized communities. We needed to defend our community.Let me be clear. The policy at issue is a ban on transgender members of the military – that is also an attack on our entire community. It is our government saying to transgender people: you are not fit to serve.
Then late last Friday, Trump made his intentions even more clear. He sent a White House memo stating specifically that transgender service members will begin being separated from the military as of March 23, 2018, and no transgender person is allowed to enlist – indefinitely. We knew we had to move at an even more accelerated pace.
Our incredible team worked many 18-hour days to get this issue immediately before a federal judge. On Thursday, we filed our petition to stop the ban in its tracks while our case against it proceeds.
It’s an incredible filing. You can check it out here.
This case is about so many fundamentally important things. It’s about courageous transgender servicemembers who put their lives on the line every day for their country. It’s about who is entitled to citizenship and who is entitled to share in deeply-held American values, like respect, service, and basic human dignity.
Let me be clear. The policy at issue is a ban on transgender members of the military – that is also an attack on our entire community. It is our government saying to transgender people: you are not fit to serve.We have no choice but to fight this with everything we’ve got. And luckily, we have some formidable voices on our side.
On Thursday, top military officials – including former secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force – filed declarations in our case powerfully reflecting the urgency of putting an immediate halt to what former Secretary of the Army Eric Fanning called an “unprecedented betrayal.”
I have been deeply moved by the show of unwavering support for our community from these distinguished military leaders. I’ve seen firsthand how seriously they take their responsibility to defend the troops who put their lives on the line every day, and their deep understanding that our military is strengthened when it reflects our whole society.
I have never felt a greater sense of passion for the work that GLAD does than I have in the last few weeks. This is one of the most important fights of my professional life. It won’t be easy, but we can’t and won’t back down.
These leaders are speaking up for our plaintiffs and other courageous transgender service members because they understand that our military is weakened and devalued when it excludes any individual who is fit to serve. And they understand that the military is strengthened every time it takes steps to reflect the beautiful diversity of our country – whether ending segregation on the basis of race, removing barriers for women in combat or finally ending the insidious Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy that forced brave gay soldiers to hide who they are.
I am honored to fight on behalf of courageous transgender Americans currently serving and those who wish to serve. I am also incredibly proud to be taking on this fight at a time when the question is being called on whether America will remain a nation dedicated to its founding principles of liberty, justice and equality.
I have never felt a greater sense of passion for the work that GLAD does than I have in the last few weeks. This is one of the most important fights of my professional life. It won’t be easy, but we can’t and won’t back down.
This fight is about all of us. We’re strongest when we stand together.