National
Pentagon agrees to 6-month delay for transgender enlistments
Service chiefs called for delay ahead of July 1 target date
Secretary of Defense James Mattis has agreed to a six-month delay in transgender enlistments. (Photo public domain)
Defense Secretary James Mattis has agreed to a request from military service chiefs for a six-month delay in allowing openly transgender people to enlist in the U.S. armed forces.
Dana White, a Pentagon spokesperson, said Mattis on Friday “approved a recommendation by the services to defer accessing transgender applicants into the military until Jan. 1, 2018.”
“The services will review their accession plans and provide input on the impact to the readiness and lethality of our forces,” White said.
Mattis agreed to the delay after the military service chiefs made a joint request for the delay in transgender accession, which was set to begin July 1 as a result of a policy change under the Obama administration.
Following a year-long review, former Defense Secretary Ashton Carter last year lifted the ban on transgender military service. That allowed transgender people serving in the U.S. armed forces to come out without fear of discharge, but certain aspects of the policy change were left for a later time. Among them was allowing openly transgender people to enlist in the U.S. military, which was set to begin July 1.
In a memo dated June 30 and obtained by the Washington Blade, Mattis lays out his concerns about transgender enlistments and whether they will impact the capabilities of the U.S. military.
“Since becoming Secretary of Defense, I have emphasized that the Department of Defense must measure each policy decision against one critical standard: will the decision affect the readiness and lethality of the armed forces?” Mattis writes. “Put another way, how will the decision affect the ability of America’s military forces to defend the Nation?”
Mattis writes the Pentagon will use the additional six months to “evaluate more carefully” the impact of transgender accession. The delay, Mattis writes, in “no way presupposes the outcome of review,” nor does it change policies already in place with regard to transgender service.
The defense secretary agreed to the change after Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.) threatened to amend major defense policy legislation with an amendment barring transgender military service if the Pentagon didn’t act to reverse the Obama-era change internally.
Matthew Thorn, executive director of the LGBT military group OutServe-SLDN, criticized the decision to delay transgender enlistments as “a disservice to the transgender community and to our military as a whole.”
“We are disappointed that the Department of Defense has chosen to delay, by six months, implementation of the recruitment policy, thus denying qualified transgender individuals the opportunity to enlist, attend ROTC or enroll in one of the military academies,” Thorn said. “Transgender service members have been serving, openly and authentically, since October 2016 with no impact on readiness. It is time to full lift the ban on transgender service by implementing this final piece by implementing the accessions policy.”
In January, when asked about LGBT military service during his confirmation hearing, Mattis said he wouldn’t reverse changes to the U.S. military under the Obama administration “unless a service chief brings something to me where there’s a problem that’s been proven.” On “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal, Mattis said he’s “never cared much about two consenting adults — who they go to bed with.”
National
Queen Jean is Tony’s first transgender winner
Designer/activist wins for work on ‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball’
It was a historic night at the 79th annual Tony Awards on Sunday as Queen Jean won the award for Best Costume Design of a Musical, making her the first out transgender person to win a Tony.
“This experience has been monumental. We are here for the legacy of queer people, trans people,” she said. “We are taking up space in ways we have to take up space. We have to shift the paradigm. So I just want to say, thank you all so much for this incredible honor. The world right now is deeply, deeply combating so many ailments, and we know as a society that when we come together, we can make real, permanent change.”
She won the award for her work on “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” and was also nominated for best costume design of a play for “Liberation.”
In addition to her stage work, Queen Jean is the founder of Black Trans Liberation, an organization that supports trans and gender-nonconforming people in New York City.
National
Madonna turns Times Square into massive dance floor
Pop icon celebrates Pride month with surprise performance
Pop icon Madonna celebrated Pride month with a pop-up performance in New York City’s Times Square on Thursday to the delight of 50,000 fans.
She performed for about 15 minutes high above street level, including several songs from her new album “Confessions II” due on July 3, along with a trio of songs from the first “Confessions on a Dance Floor.”
In addition to the brand new “Love Sensation,” she performed “I Feel So Free” and “Bring Your Love,” plus “Hung Up,” “Get Together” and “I Love New York.” She wished the crowd a happy Pride season; the event was shared with audiences through Grindr’s first-ever livestream.
National
Gallup finds LGBTQ support among Americans is dropping
Marriage equality support lowest since 2016
Gallup, one of the leading organizations in public opinion polling, has found that LGBTQ support among Americans is dropping.
The poll, whose data was collected using Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs survey, was conducted in May and was published on Wednesday. The data was collected through telephone interviews from a sample of more than 1,000 adults living in all 50 states and D.C. using random digit dialing.
It highlights declining attitudes surrounding LGBTQ issues in multiple areas — from support for same-sex marriage to views on gender identity and the morality of one’s sexuality.
One of the most striking findings was that support for marriage equality fell six points from its 2022-2023 high.
The survey also found that 62 percent of Americans view gay and lesbian relations as morally acceptable, the lowest level since 2016 just after same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide by the U.S. Supreme Court.
One newer question on the poll found that the perceived morality of changing one’s gender has dropped eight points since 2021, indicating the American public is less supportive of transgender people.
The data attributes much of the decline to shifting Republican views alongside the party itself. Conservative leaders have pushed back against diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that were intended to foster greater acceptance of LGBTQ people and other historically disadvantaged groups.
President Donald Trump has been a guiding force behind waves of anti-LGBTQ sentiment, particularly when it comes to trans rights. The president has enacted multiple executive orders, including Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” which mandates that gender be defined by one’s sex assigned at birth. He also signed Executive Order 14183, “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,” which barred qualified trans applicants from joining the military and led to the removal of trans service members already serving in the armed forces.
Additionally, he signed Executive Order 14201, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which prohibits trans female athletes from participating on women’s and girls’ sports teams.
In February, Gallup found that an estimated 9 percent of Americans identified as part of the LGBTQ community in some form.
The organization also found that 23 percent of adults under age 30 identify as LGBTQ, compared with 10 percent of those ages 30 to 49 and 3 percent or less among those ages 50 and older.
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