Rep. Joe Kennedy III

From Staff Reports

The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, March 28, passed a resolution condemning Trump’s efforts to ban openly-transgender men and and women from serving in the U.S. military. The vote was 238-185, with every House Democrat and five House Republicans voting in favor of the resolution. Texan Will Hurd was one of the five Republicans.

Rep. Joe Kennedy III, D-Mass., led the effort to pass the resolution. He chairs the Equality Caucus’ Transgender Equality Task Force.

The vote came just two days after a federal court lifted an injunction barring implementation of the ban. President Barack Obama had lifted the ban before he left office, but Trump re-instated the ban in the first year of his presidency. Trump’s administration had announced that men and women enlisting in the military would have to serve as the gender they were assigned at birth.

Officials at the Department of Defense announced earlier this year that the ban will go into effect on April 12.

Transgender advocates praised the vote while acknowledging that it is not a binding vote and is unlikely to see any action in the U.S. Senate.

The top three LGBTQ military organizations in the U.S. — the American Military Partner Association, OutServe-SLDN and SPARTA — issued a joint press applauding passage of the resolution.

AMPA President Ashley Broadway-Mack said the vote on the resolution “sends a powerful message to our transgender service members and their families that the United States House of Representatives stands with them in the face of this administration’s unconscionable discrimination.”

OutServe-SLDN Executive Director Andy Blevins described openly-trans servicemembers as “selfless patriots, who happen to be transgender,” saying they have “proven time and again that they are qualified, able and willing to honorably continue their military service.”

SPARTA President Blake Dremann added, “The only thing that has ever been asked for by any minority group is the opportunity to meet unbiased standards and then succeed or fail based on our own merits. The moral arc of our military and our nation must continue to bend towards justice and opportunity for all who are qualified, capable”

Dremann said that while trans people and advocates are “filled with sorrow as the military we love takes steps to discriminate against transgender servicemembers,” the vote in the House offers a sign of hope: “Today we watched the U.S. House of Representatives recognize the value of a diverse military which attracts and retains the best and brightest our country has to offer, including brave transgender Americans. We are hopeful that a similar effort will be shown by the U.S. Senate to recognize those same contributions and that once again transgender people are able to wear the sacred cloth of our Nation, receive medically necessary care, and be in position to continue their distinguished service as proud, proficient warfighters.”

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and Lambda Legal also issued statements praising the House’s vote on the resolution.

“Trump claims to value our military but treats it with disregard and contempt,” said Leadership Conference President and CEO Vanita Gupta. “From diverting military funding, to supporting his vanity wall project, to banning brave and patriotic transgender Americans from serving, his actions speak louder than his words. The transgender military service ban not only undermines military readiness and national security, it is a violation of fundamental American values of fairness and equality. We applaud the House for speaking out and urge Trump to support all qualified individuals who volunteer to serve in our armed forces.”

Sharon McGowan, legal director and chief strategy officer of Lambda Legal, said, “We are so happy to see the … House pass a resolution strongly rebuking the Trump administration’s ban on transgender service members with bipartisan support. This important resolution is a helpful step towards showing President Trump that the public overwhelmingly opposes his discriminatory ban, which not only hurts our fellow Americans, but also our national security. … We urge the Senate to take up a similar resolution immediately … .”