ACLU Responds to White House Announcement on Transgender Service Members in the Military

WASHINGTON — The Department of Defense announced its plan tonight to implement President Trump’s directive to ban transgender service members from serving in the military. That directive has been blocked by federal courts in four separate cases, including the ACLU’s case, Stone v. Trump.

Joshua Block, a Senior Staff Attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union LGBT & HIV Project, had the following reaction:

“What the White House has released tonight is transphobia masquerading as policy. This policy is not based on an evaluation of new evidence. It is reverse-engineered for the sole purpose of carrying out President Trump’s reckless and unconstitutional ban, undermining the ability of transgender service members to serve openly and military readiness as a whole.

“The policy effectively coerces transgender people who wish to serve into choosing between their humanity and their country, and makes it clear that transgender service members are not welcome. Transgender people in our military deserve more from their government than a myth-driven proclamation about their unfitness for full civic inclusion.”