US Defence Chiefs Not In Support Of Trump’s Transgender Ban

US defense chiefs have pushed back against Donald Trump’s attempt to ban transgender people from serving in the military, saying the current policy would not be overturned until they received formal direction to do so.

In a rebuke to Trump’s attempt to run the government and military via Twitter, Gen Joseph Dunford, America’s top military officer, said on Thursday that the armed forces would continue to permit transgender people to serve openly until the defense secretary, Jim Mattis, has received Trump’s “direction” to change the policy and figured out how to implement it.

In a memo to all military service chiefs, commanders and enlisted military leaders, Dunford, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said “there will be no modifications” to current policy for now, amid questions about Trump’s announcement on Twitter that the US government will not “accept or allow” transgender people to serve in any capacity in the military.

“I know there are questions about yesterday’s announcement,” Dunford began, adding that nothing would change until the president’s direction has been received by Mattis and Mattis has issued “implementation guidance”.

“In the meantime, we will continue to treat all of our personnel with respect,” Dunford wrote. “As importantly, given the current fight and the challenges we face, we will all remain focused on accomplishing our assigned missions.”

The Dunford statement suggests that Mattis was given no presidential direction on changing the transgender policy. Mattis has been on vacation this week and has been publicly silent amid questions about Trump’s announced ban. His spokesmen declined to comment on Thursday. On Wednesday, they said the Pentagon would work with the White House and provide revised guidance to the military “in the near future”.

Dunford himself was not aware that Trump was going to announce the ban, a US official said. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter and so spoke on condition of anonymity.

Trump’s announcement caught the Pentagon flat-footed and unable to explain what it called Trump’s “guidance”.

“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,” the commander in chief tweeted.

Trump wrote that he had consulted with “my generals and military experts”, but he did not mention Mattis, the retired Marine general who recently told the service chiefs to spend another six months weighing the costs and benefits of allowing transgender individuals to enlist. At the time, Mattis said this “does not presuppose the outcome of the review”, but Trump’s tweets appeared to have done just that.

The Pentagon has not released data on the number of transgender people currently serving. A Rand Corporation study has estimated the number at between 1,320 and 6,630 out of 1.3 million active-duty troops.

Criticism for Trump’s action was immediate and strong from both political parties.

John McCain, the Arizona Republican and Vietnam war hero, said Trump was simply wrong.

“Any American who meets current medical and readiness standards should be allowed to continue serving,” he said. “There is no reason to force service members who are able to fight, train and deploy to leave the military – regardless of their gender identity.”

The Guardian UK