Trump transgender ban dishonors JBLM troops
As neighbors of a major West Coast military base, South Sound residents see the many sacrifices made by those who defend flag and country.
Proximity causes us to value the rich diversity of soldiers and airmen stationed at JBLM — people of all colors and creeds, immigrants striving toward citizenship, man, woman, straight, gay and transgender.
That’s why we should be alarmed by President Trump’s stunning announcement last week that transgender troops would be banned from serving in “any capacity.”
In military tactical terms, this is known as an ambush.
Trump burped out a careless series of Twitter posts Wednesday in which he diminished thousands of transgender people who wear the uniform —somewhere between 4,000 and 11,000 active-duty and reserve personnel, according to a Pentagon-contracted report last year, although other estimates run higher.
He cheapened their service records by saying they’ve “burdened” the country with “tremendous medical costs and disruption,” even though the only study done on transgender troops to date doesn’t support either claim. With that, he cast their careers into limbo.
To be fired by tweet would be insulting for a part-time entry-level retail clerk. What message does it send to those who have sworn to uphold the Constitution and fight enemies from the Middle East to the Korean Peninsula?
What does it say to soldiers like Capt. Jennifer Peace, who went public with the story of her gender transition with The News Tribune in 2015?
If you’ve heard of Peace, it’s likely because she’s turned into a de facto spokeswoman willing to talk to national media about military gender-identity issues.
But some Spanaway residents know her as a neighbor and parent of three children. Colleagues at JBLM know her as a highly competent Army intelligence officer, an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran who, like every other service member, should be judged by whether she meets training and fitness standards and performs all duties as assigned.
“If you can pull the weight, if you can do the work, I don’t think any of the rest of that matters,” Peace told the TNT last year, the day the Defense Department under President Obama announced transgender people could serve openly.
She described it as “an incredible feeling” that she and thousands of peers were finally validated. One year later, having been whipsawed by Trump, they must feel incredulous.
Some conservatives blasted the Obama administration for imposing a social-engineering experiment on the armed forces. Even if you buy that argument, at least the experiment waited for a year-long review, input from the service chiefs and completion of a Rand Corporation study, which concluded that lifting the transgender ban would have “minimal impact” on military readiness and health care costs.
Trump, by contrast, aims to practice knee-jerk reverse social engineering, not to mention discrimination, based on whim and political expedience.
His tweet claim of “consultation with my generals and military experts” rings hollow since just last month Defense Secretary Jim Mattis extended an internal review of transgender policy until December.
Mattis pushed pause on allowing transgender individuals to enlist, but he stood by those already serving. It has since become clear that the Pentagon was blindsided by Trump’s move.
Other military members might well feel nervous after the president’s rash decision. With each lofty campaign promise he can’t fulfill (Mexico wall) or key policy battle he loses (repeal and replace), Trump lately has shown he may try to compensate with sneak attacks in the culture wars.
What’s to stop him from demanding a return to the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” dark ages of discrimination against gay and lesbian troops, or a rollback of Obama-era rules allowing women to serve in front-line combat? Uncertainty could chill recruitment and retention in the all-volunteer force.
In Washington state, transgender residents have had cause to celebrate in 2017. For a second straight year, the Just Want Privacy campaign failed to collect enough signatures to qualify a ballot initiative that would restrict which bathrooms transgender people can use. And Republican legislators wisely avoided a repeat of their transgender toilet-access showdown of 2016.
But the fact transgender troops suddenly face a shadow over their careers has dimmed the sense of progress in the Northwest LGBTQ community.
More broadly, it poses a potential threat to U.S. troop morale, military readiness and national security.
Enough with the presidential ambushes. Let’s hope Trump sizes up all the forces aligned against him, both civilian and military amplified by strong voices from both parties, as well as the Twitter hashtag #LetThemServe.
And let’s hope his next move will be retreat.
This story was originally published July 29, 2017 at 1:52 PM with the headline "Trump transgender ban dishonors JBLM troops."