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Last updated on: 10/23/2019 11:48:39 AM PST

Should Transgender People Be Allowed to Serve in the US Military?

In June 2016, then-Defense Secretary Ashton Carter lifted the Pentagon's long-standing ban on transgender people serving openly in the US military. Medical costs for gender-affirming surgery were to be covered by the Pentagon for uniformed military personnel. 

In July 2017, President Trump tweeted that no transgender people would be allowed "to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military." The policy change went through several courts before landing at the US Supreme Court where, in a 5-4 ruling, the ban was allowed to stand.

The ban, which went into effect on Apr. 12, 2019, includes a prohibition against transitioning for transgender troops and recruits, a requirement that most serve as their birth gender, and allows a service member to be "discharged based on a diagnosis of gender dysphoria." Gender dysphoria is when a person is distressed due to an inconsistency between their biological sex and their gender identity.
Source: Orion Rumbler, "Everything You Need to Know about the Transgender Military Ban," axios.com, Apr. 12, 2019
Pro
Joe Biden
Biden
Howie Hawkins
Hawkins
Jo Jorgensen
Jorgensen

Con
Donald Trump
Trump
Not Clear or Not Found





Pro (Yes)

Pro
Joe Biden
Biden
Democrat

Shannon Scott: “I served over ten years in the United States military and two combat tours in Iraq, and after that service, I was forced to make one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever been forced to make, and that was to choose between serving my country and my true identity as a transgender woman.”

Joe Biden: “If I were President, you would not have to choose. Not a joke. You would not have to choose. The fact of the matter is that we're in a position where transgender men and women are in a position where they should be able to do anything anybody else in the world can do. There should be no difference.”

Source: Veronica Rocha and Brandon Tensley, "CNN's LGBTQ Town Hall: Biden: Transgender People Should Be Allowed to Serve in the Military," cnn.com, Oct. 10, 2019
Pro
Howie Hawkins
Hawkins
Green

"We need to start at home by rescinding Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the armed forces and Department of Defense funding of gender reassignment surgeries."

Source: Howie Hawkins, "GPUS Lavender Caucus: National Lavender Green Caucus – Questionnaire for Presidential Candidates," howiehawkins.us (accessed June 24, 2020)
Pro
Jo Jorgensen
Jorgensen
Libertarian

"Yes, absolutely."

Source: Communication from the Jorgensen campaign to ProCon.org on Aug. 26, 2020
Con (No)

Con
Donald Trump
Trump
Republican

"After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow......

....Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming.....

....victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you"

Source: Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 26, 2017



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