Trump’s transgender ban will not be repeated here, says Fallon

SIR MICHAEL FALLON has denounced Donald Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the military, saying it was “only right” that the Armed Forces opposed all forms of discrimination.

Asked about the ban during a visit to Australia, the Defence Secretary told The Daily Telegraph: “No, we don’t support that ban. I want our military to be completely open.

“It is right that the military should be equally open to anybody, irrespective of their race, their colour, their gender their sexuality. That is only right.”

Mr Trump announced via Twitter on Wednesday that transgender people would be banned from serving “in any capacity”. He said the US military needed to be “decisive and overwhelming” and “cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail”.

Yesterday a US admiral commanding one of the largest aircraft carriers in the world became the first to promise to defy the ban, saying staff will only be judged on their ability to complete the mission and not whether they are transgender. Rear-adml Kenneth Whitesell, commander of the carrier 2 strike group, was speaking aboard the nuclear-powered super warship USS George HW Bush, which anchored in Stokes Bay, near Portsmouth.

When asked by journalists if he was in favour of the president’s proposal, Rear-adml Whitesell said it will be “interesting” to see how the issue and policy “plays out”, and stressed he does not have an opinion on it “one way or the other”. He added: “I’m looking for sailors that can accomplish the mission, and that is all we judge people by.”

British defence chiefs were quick to support the service of transgender people in the military. Rear-adml Alex Burton, Commander UK Maritime Forces, said on Twitter that the military opposed discrimination, adding: “We’re a better fighting force for it.”