Photo: Barack Obama (left) and Chuck Hagel. Credit: DoD Photo by Glenn Fawcett.
The White House signaled their support Friday for a Pentagon review of the military’s longstanding ban on transgender servicemembers.
Asked by Metro Weekly if President Barack Obama supports such a review, which Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said earlier this week he is open to, White House press secretary Jay Carney said they back the defense secretary.
“I would certainly point you to what Secretary Hagel said and we certainly support his efforts in this area,” Carney said.
“I do think it continually should be reviewed,” Hagel said of the medical regulatory ban on transgender military service during a Sunday interview with ABC News’ Martha Raddatz. “I’m open to that, by the way.”
While Hagel said transgender military service was more complicated than gay and lesbian military service, due to the medical needs of some transgender people, Hagel said he was “open to those assessments” of lifting the ban.
“Again, I go back to the bottom line — every qualified American who wants to serve our country should have an opportunity if they fit the qualifications and can do it,” Hagel said Sunday. “This is an area that we’ve not defined enough.”
When asked if Obama supports eventually lifting the ban on transgender Americans serving in the military, Carney deflected back to Hagel’s remarks.
“I would simply, at this point, leave it to Secretary Hagel’s comments,” Carney said. “I haven’t spoken to him directly about this issue, but I would note what Secretary Hagel said and that we support him.”
Hagel’s remarks, as well as the White House’s affirmation today that they support Hagel’s efforts, illustrate a dramatic shift in tone by the Department of Defense on transgender military service.
“This issue has progressed more in seven days than previously imaginable,” Human Rights Campaign Vice President Fred Sainz said. “And I think the fact that it also appears that these are not off the cuff remarks made by Secretary Hagel — that clearly his thoughts, his plan is endorsed by the White House — that shows incredible momentum and strength for this issue and that is deeply, deeply meaningful.”
During a flight en route to Saudi Arabia earlier this week, Hagel expanded upon his remarks, stating that the Pentagon should continue to evaluate the ban.
“I’ve not asked for a specific task force. I’ve not asked for a specific study. I would want to hear more from individuals who are close to this issue, know this issue, who I would value their judgment and their direction on,” Hagel said. When such a review may take place, however, remains unclear. A Pentagon official confirmed to Metro Weekly that no such review has yet been ordered.
“If Secretary Hagel believes the policy should be reviewed and the President supports the Secretary in this, then when does the review begin?” asked Allyson Robinson, SPARTA policy director and a former Army Captain. “For the 15,000 transgender service members putting their lives on the line for us right now, it can’t happen too soon. SPARTA is looking forward to working with the Secretary to update these archaic policies that are hurting our troops and weakening our military.”
In late November, the University of Oklahoma placed Mel Curth on administrative leave after the transgender graduate teaching assistant gave a student a zero on an essay about gender roles.
The essay cited the Bible to defend traditional gender roles and described transgender people as "demonic." Curth and the course's instructor, Megan Waldron, said the paper failed to meet basic academic standards due to a lack of empirical evidence. Both noted that the paper cited no scholarly sources and failed to offer an evidence-based critique of the assigned article, which argued that children who do not conform to rigid gender stereotypes are more likely to face bullying and negative mental health outcomes.
Federal Judge Victoria Calvert has permanently blocked a portion of Georgia’s law banning prisoners from receiving gender-affirming care, ruling on Dec. 3 that the state’s blanket ban on hormone therapy violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.
Signed by Gov. Brian Kemp in May and implemented in July, the law bars prisoners from receiving hormone therapy or other treatment for gender dysphoria -- even when a doctor deems it medically necessary. It prohibits the state from funding such care and blocks transgender inmates from paying for it themselves. Non-transgender prisoners, however, may still receive hormone therapy and other gender-affirming treatments so long as the care is not related to gender transition.
Tyler Getchell of Jacksonville, Florida, has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly shooting and partially paralyzing his neighbor, Kyle McFarlane, during an argument over what Getchell believed was trespassing.
McFarlane told police he was gathering discarded furniture for a bonfire on November 22 when Getchell and his girlfriend came outside and yelled at him to get off their property, First Coast News reported.
According to the police report, video footage shows McFarlane standing on a property easement -- not on his neighbors' land -- just before the shooting.
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