Transgender People in the Military: A Conversation with Chase Strangio & Charles Kaiser

The hot topic issue of banning transgender individuals from serving in the military was a focus of the discussion last night with Chase Strange, Staff Atty. with ACLU LGBT & AIDS Project and Charles Kaiser Assoc Dir of LBGT Soc. Science & Public Policy Ctr at Hunter College.  This past August, Trump signed a directive banning transgender individuals from serving in the military in any capacity.  Trump also banned funding for transgender reassignment for military personnel except in cases where treatments have begun & halting treatment would cause health issues. What does this mean? Does this mean transgender individuals serving in the military will be removed?  Their pensions halted?  Clearly, this means war regarding the civil rights of transgender & LGBT people in our nation.  What will occur is murky.  Def. Sec. Jim Mattis has until Feb. 21, 2018 to clarify & implement nat'l policy concerning transgender individuals now serving in the military.  Currently, there are 4 major cases pending in the courts challenging Trump's exclusionary plans which arguably violate equal rights & nondiscrimination statutes.  The history of LGBT in the armed forces has been subjugated to malignant treatment since Clinton's 1994 policy of "Don't ask, don't tell" a cowardly, noncommittal endorsement leaving the door for excluding openly gay individuals from military service.  This US policy was overturned by Pres. Obama in 2010 allowing homosexuals to serve openly.  It's illegal to discriminate against individuals serving in the military on the basis of their sexual orientation.  HOWEVER, this repeal didn't change the policy to permit transgender individuals to serve.  To clarify, Trump is re-enforcing a ban that has been in place and is ensuring transgenders don't obtain the right to be in the military.  Strangio, a transgender male, estimates 14,000 transgender individuals currently serve; the estimate is as low as 4,000.  It could be argued that the legal right to discriminate against transgender individuals may have been obscured by representing Chelsea who was convicted of leaking classified information.  She was charged with 22 counts of espionage & plead guilty to 20 charges.  She received a 35 year sentence in July 2013.  Obama commuted her sentence in Jan 2017.  She was released this past May.  Last night Strangio didn't clarify the ACLU's decision to represent her.  I found his impassioned statement from an article in May 2017 "It is a remarkable gift to the world that Chelsea will be able to grow & fight alongside us for justice...Her fight to be herself, to access the medical care that she needed, & to gain her freedom have transformed law & society for the better.  The urgency of those fights for so many in our communities will continue and Chelsea's past & future will no doubt be a critical force in moving towards a more just society for everyone."