LGBT

The Pentagon Won’t Discharge Transgender Service Members

Written by SK Ashby

At least not yet.

Secretary of Defense James Mattis announced last night that he will not remove or discharge transgender men and women who are currently serving in the military, but there's a caveat.

Mattis says he will not make a final decision until a study on transgender service is complete.

"Once the panel reports its recommendations and following my consultation with the secretary of Homeland Security, I will provide my advice to the president concerning implementation of his policy direction," Mattis said in the statement. "In the interim, current policy with respect to currently serving members will remain in place."

It's not entirely clear what this will mean for the lawsuits filed against Trump's order this week, but I expect they will continue because this is only one part of it. Trump also ordered the Pentagon to stop accepting new transgender service members. A judge could rule that current service members have no standing to challenge the order, but in that case the ACLU and Lambda Legal could amend their lawsuits or file them again at a later date.

It's hard to guess what the Pentagon panel will conclude without knowing what's in the heart of people serving on it, but I can say our reluctance to accept transgender service members is an anomaly in the western world. Our closest allies already accept transgender men and women and our own forces have served alongside them in NATO without incident. It will be difficult for them to justify a conclusion that transgender service is detrimental.

Civil rights shouldn't be left up to a panel to decide, of course, but this could buy six months to a year of time under current policy.