The U.S. Senate & House of Representatives have introduced parallel Bills in a joint & bipartisan effort to protect our transgender service members & hopefully recruits. The Senate was led by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) & she was joined by Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) & Susan Collins (R-ME). In the House of Representatives Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA,14), was joined by Representatives John Katko (R-NY,24), Danny Davis (D-IL,7), Anthony Brown (D-MD,4) & Joe Kennedy III (D-MA,4). Andy Blevins OutServe-SLDN Executive Director stated, “We applaud these Senators & Representatives for their commitment to ensuring open & authentic service for our transgender siblings-in-arms. For the last 2 & 1/2 years, these selfless patriots have proven time & again that they are not only qualified to accomplish the mission, but that our Armed Forces are more efficient & effective because of their authenticity. It is time that we, as a nation, honor the service of these service members & hopeful recruits by ensuring baseless & discriminatory rationalizations not be allowed to define military policy.” The bill comes one day after a new government report warned of substantial shortfalls in military personnel, including those with “critical skills,” with officials from the Army saying “the primary reason why it has struggled to meet its authorized end strength is because it has had difficulty meeting recruiting goals.” Aaron Belkin, Director of the Palm Center concluded, "A shortage of qualified, mission-critical troops is no time to ban qualified, mission-critical troops & recruits who are eager to serve. By implementing the ban, the Pentagon would be shooting itself in the foot for no reason other than Trump-era politics."
For More Info: outserve-sldn.org
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