Transgender ranks not banned just yet

Pentagon awaits guidance on tweet

WASHINGTON — Top Pentagon leaders declared Thursday that they’ll allow transgender troops to remain in uniform until Defense Secretary James Mattis receives an authoritative directive to remove them.

The announcement came after President Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday that he will not “accept or allow” transgender people to serve in the U.S. military.

For now, “there will be no modifications” to current policy, Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in an internal memorandum to all military service chiefs, commanders and enlisted leaders.

Trump’s announcement surprised military leaders, to whom the matter appeared largely settled after President Barack Obama last year granted already enlisted transgender people the right to serve openly. It also infuriated civil-rights groups, which threatened lawsuits, and created an uproar among transgender people serving on active duty.

The announcement also

drew scathing criticism from many lawmakers, both Democratic and Republican, as well as many military troops and retirees. Protesters demonstrated in several cities and outside the White House. Social conservatives, on the other hand, applauded.

By late Thursday, the Pentagon still had not received any other guidance other than the tweets.

Dunford began his memo to the nation’s military leaders: “I know there are questions about yesterday’s announcement.” He said nothing would change until the president’s direction had been received and developed by Mattis into written “implementation guidance.”

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

That last statement appeared to reflect a concern that confusion over Trump’s tweets might distract troops who are engaged in dangerous operations around the world, including shooting wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.

White House spokesman Sarah Huckabee Sanders did not answer when asked Wednesday what would happen to those currently serving in the military, saying that the ban would need to be worked out with the Defense Department.

Sanders said Thursday that guidance on how to “fully implement this policy” is still to be worked out. Asked whether Trump realized that he could not change the transgender service policy via Twitter, Sanders said, “I think he was making the announcement of the policy change.”

Mattis has been on vacation this week and has been publicly silent on the matter. Sanders has said Trump informed Mattis of his decision after he made it Tuesday. It was Trump’s judgment, she said, that transgender individuals are an unacceptable cost and distraction for the military and should not be allowed to serve.

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

The top Air Force officer, Gen. David Goldfein, sent a note internally to his entire force Thursday citing Dunford’s memo and saying that

he and Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson “emphasize that all airmen will be treated with dignity and respect as we work through the potential policy changes” coming from the White House.

Gen. Mark Milley, the Army chief of staff, made similar points during a speech at the National Press Club.

“I have yet to receive implementation guidance” from Mattis, Milley said. “We’ll act when we receive directives through the proper chain-of-command channels.” Until then, nothing changes, he added, citing the Dunford memo.

In Arkansas, a National Guard spokesman referred questions about Trump’s statements on transgender soldiers to the White House, saying only that the Arkansas Guard was still awaiting any implementation instructions from the federal level.

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

“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,” Trump tweeted. The implication of the pronouncement was that those now in uniform would be forced to leave.

Trump wrote that he had consulted with “my generals and military experts,” but the White House has not identified them and none have stepped forward. Just last week, when asked about the transgender issue at a Senate hearing, Gen. Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said, “I am an advocate of every qualified person who can meet the physical standards to serve in our uniformed services to be able to do so.”

Transgender service members have been allowed to serve openly since 2016 under a policy applied only to those already in uniform. The Obama administration began a review of the costs and benefits of allowing transgender individuals to enlist, and less than a month ago Mattis extended that review for

another six months. Mattis said then that this “does not presuppose the outcome of the review.”

The ban on transgender service members drove a wedge through military veterans in Congress, with one camp standing squarely behind the commander in chief and the other condemning his order as an attack on dedicated troops.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a former Army helicopter pilot who lost her legs and partial use of her right arm during the Iraq war, called Trump’s announcement discriminatory.

“When my Black Hawk helicopter was shot down in Iraq, I didn’t care if the American troops risking their lives to help save me were gay, straight, transgender or anything else,” she said. “All that mattered was they didn’t leave me behind.”

Duckworth said if a person is willing to risk his life as a member of the armed forces “and you can do the job, you should be able to serve — no matter your gender identity, sexual orientation or race.”

But Rep. Steve Russell, R-Okla., applauded Trump for calling for the reversal of the Obama administration’s directive.

Russell, a retired Army officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Trump prevented the “implementation of a policy that does not enhance readiness, forces all Americans to spend taxes on unnecessary elective surgeries, and would force many military physicians, leaders, and counselors to violate rights of conscience protected under the 1st Amendment.”

And Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., a brigadier general in the Pennsylvania National Guard and an Iraq war veteran, said that while he didn’t support an outright ban on transgender troops, current Pentagon policies are “insufficient to address the pragmatic and logistical issues surrounding service of transgender individuals.”