ATG NEWS RELEASE: Attorney General Doug Chin leads coalition urging congress to protect transgender service members
Posted on Jul 27, 2017 in Latest Department NewsHONOLULU – In a letter to the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, Attorney General Doug Chin today led a coalition of 19 attorneys general expressing their opposition to the President’s ban on transgender people serving in the Armed Forces. The letter was joined by attorneys general from California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Washington D.C.
Attorney General Chin said, “Policies that have no factual basis and that marginalize and reject classes of people have no place in the 21st century.”
On Wednesday, the President by tweet announced a new ban on transgender service members, citing unnamed support from military leadership. In response, the attorneys general declare the ban is discriminatory and, despite the President’s claims otherwise, is actually harmful to military readiness. The letter notes that approximately 150,000 transgender service members have served in the United States Armed Forces:
“Transgender service members fill a number of critical military roles. Retaining these talented service members strengthens—not weakens—our military readiness.”
The attorneys general remind the House and Senate committees of the honorable service performed by transgender service members, writing:
“The members of our Armed Forces put their lives on the line to protect freedom for all Americans. Thousands of transgender Americans serve in uniform today. This policy tells them, ‘you are not welcome here.’ The decision to oust honorable, well-trained, and patriotic service members based on nothing more than their gender identity is undiluted discrimination and therefore indefensible. We urge that this newly announced policy be immediately reversed.”
A copy of the letter is attached.
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For more information, contact:
Joshua A. Wisch
Special Assistant to the Attorney General
Phone: (808) 586-1284
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @ATGHIgov