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Transgender military personnel sue Trump over service ban


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Transgender military personnel sue Trump over service ban

By Daniel Trotta

 

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FILE PHOTO: Newly inaugurated U.S. President Donald Trump (in red tie), first lady Melania (L), Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen (R) preside over a military parade during Trump's swearing ceremony in Washington, U.S., January 20, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo

 

(Reuters) - Five transgender members of the U.S. military including Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans sued President Donald Trump on Wednesday, challenging his ban on transgender people serving in the armed forces.

 

Trump said on Twitter on July 26 that the U.S. government "will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity" in the military, a reversal of Pentagon policy that the lawsuit said was made without consulting senior military commanders.

 

The surprise announcement, citing healthcare costs and unit disruption, appealed to some in Trump's conservative political base but created uncertainty for thousands of transgender service members, many of whom came out after the Pentagon said in 2016 it would allow transgender people to serve openly.

 

Trump's tweets appeared to dismiss findings from a RAND Corporation study commissioned by the Pentagon that found allowing transgender people to serve would "cost little and have no significant impact on unit readiness."

 

The White House and the Pentagon said they do not comment on pending litigation. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

 

The service members suing the president are three U.S. Army soldiers, one U.S. Air Force airman and one member of the U.S. Coast Guard who are active duty.

 

All have come out as transgender to their commanding officers but are anonymous in the lawsuit, named only as Jane Doe, for fear of retribution, said Jennifer Levi, a lawyer from GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders. The group filed the lawsuit along with the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

 

The American Civil Liberties Union said it was preparing its own lawsuit.

 

The lawsuit said Trump's tweets violate the rights of the service members to due process and equal protection under the law. It asks the court to declare Trump's directive as unconstitutional and to issue injunctions to stop it.

 

The defendants are listed as Trump, Defense Secretary James Mattis and other military leaders including Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Dunford said in a memo a day after Trump's tweets that there would be no change in policy until Mattis received an official order from the president.

 

That order has yet to be issued.

 

"In the meantime, we will continue to treat all of our personnel with respect," Dunford said.

 

Lawyer Levi said the plaintiffs, some of whom are near retirement, need not wait for an official policy because the tweets alone created uncertainty about their futures.

 

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Grant McCool, Toni Reinhold)

 
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-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-08-10
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1 minute ago, vogie said:

You cannot have transgender in the forces, imagine being in a trench with one, you could be looking out for the enemy and he could be looking at you thinking 'mmnn, he looks tasty in that uniform'  :licklips:

That has to be contender for dumbest comment of the day. I would suspect if you are in the trenches under attack from an enemy, thoughts of a sexual nature are likely to be significantly less than ensuring your survival. Additionally, being transgender, doesn't automatically make you a screaming pervert, who is unable to control their sexual desires.

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15 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

That has to be contender for dumbest comment of the day. I would suspect if you are in the trenches under attack from an enemy, thoughts of a sexual nature are likely to be significantly less than ensuring your survival. Additionally, being transgender, doesn't automatically make you a screaming pervert, who is unable to control their sexual desires.

It was a joke, jeez, can't you tell?

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1 hour ago, vogie said:

You cannot have transgender in the forces, imagine being in a trench with one, you could be looking out for the enemy and he could be looking at you thinking 'mmnn, he looks tasty in that uniform'  :licklips:

What you may notice about gay men is most of them are well groomed and take care of their body like a woman. I would say they are not going to be interested in any man they see and a Woman wouldn't either.

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Well this little round of law suits will cost a lot more than 10 years worth of transgender ops. Wait till the other 6000 Plus join in. Well done Trump, saved 8 Mill USD per year and will end up paying out 6-10 Billion in class actions. Richard Head.

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3 hours ago, Srikcir said:

I guess Ivanka failed again influence her father.

Why is she still a WH senior advisor?

Probably b/c it's another paycheck for doing little/nothing. This family only wants to gain access to our treasury to build more and more capital. They are all crooks. I hope rule of law prevails and they all go to jail. 

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8 hours ago, vogie said:

You cannot have transgender in the forces, imagine being in a trench with one, you could be looking out for the enemy and he could be looking at you thinking 'mmnn, he looks tasty in that uniform'  :licklips:

What an ignorant, homophobic, bigoted statement. It sounds like you're talking more about gay soldiers more than transgender though. There are of course many more gay soldiers serving than transgender ones. Honor and respect to those patriots. None to the bigots!

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Just now, Jingthing said:

What an ignorant, homophobic, bigoted statement. It sounds like you're talking more about gay soldiers more than transgender though. There are of course many more gay soldiers serving than transgender ones. Honor and respect to those patriots. None to the bigots!

I am sorry you have taken it the wrong way, it is actually a quote from 'The Office' UK  from Gareth, it was just a light hearted remark not meant to be seriously, just the opposite.

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9 hours ago, vogie said:

It was a joke, jeez, can't you tell?

 

I could tell that it was an *attempt* at humor. Elevating it to the level of an actual joke is giving yourself too much credit.

 

As they say in the "biz" : don't quit your day job.

 

T

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12 hours ago, webfact said:

Trump said on Twitter on July 26 that the U.S. government "will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity" in the military

That's true for the most countries. I guess the PC crowd shows up because of Trump, and not the transgenders.

 

A bunch of Trumpophobes.

Edited by alocacoc
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It was funny and these threads often need humor.  I've blocked most of the PC crowd and hopefully they've blocked me - much more real world without the hassles :)


I would never block anybody. My problem is with the mods on this site that would. I'd like to hear the uncensored comments. That is the reality.


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
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I get that he didn't intend malice after he explained he had posted humor. In his own mind, that is. Again, objectively there was no humor at all in that text regardless of nationality out of context of that t.v. show. I have demonstrated my point above with the comparison of naked bigoted text with no context and a video clip showing the humor in context.

 

Again, I suggest next time, if people want to project humor in such instances -- POST THE VIDEO. 

 

This is a very common issue online and email. People write jokes in emails thinking they're jokes but often without context, timing, and tone of voice, the text is seen as LITERAL. 

Edited by Jingthing
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Off-topic post removed.   Someone said the post was meant to be humorous; some didn't find it funny.   That's tough.  

 

The issue is a significant one.   There are people who were told it was OK to be transgender in the military, they are now being told that it is not.  

 

If someone was admitted to the military without prejudice and without falsifying any information, will they now be denied medical care for a condition?   If doctors agree that it needs treatment, will this be denied?

 

If they don't come out, will they be accused of lying?   Is the question of gender identity a part of the intake process?  

 

 

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When I saw the topic title I thought it was something from the Onion.  Apparently not.

 

Trump is Commander in Chief and what he says goes.  The fact that they are being allowed to sue him shows that the military has been for quite some time one big social experiment. 

 

However, having said that, I do think there is a good argument transgendered should be allowed to serve.  The idea that uniformed members of the military are pinned down by enemy fire at any given moment is mostly a myth.  The vast, vast majority of uniformed military members go through their entire careers, no matter how long or short, without even coming close to performing arduous duty.  Virtually all are riding desks at their retirement. 

 

But it's all up to the current Commander in Chief who happens to be Donald J. Trump.

Edited by mesquite
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