In response to today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to allow President Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the military to go into effect while lower court cases continue, the Los Angeles LGBT Center issued the following statement:
“The Supreme Court’s decision today to grant the Trump administration’s request to allow temporary enforcement of its ban on transgender people serving in the military is both wrong-headed and morally repugnant.
“Transgender members of our military serve our country with honor and distinction. The attempt to deny their participation in the military is a policy ‘fix’ in search of a problem. It has no function but to appease the President’s base and further stigmatize and harm people who have only showed the highest degree of character and patriotism. It is behavior that is the very definition of ‘conduct unbecoming.’
“The Court’s decision is not final, as three lawsuits against the ban in other jurisdictions will continue to move forward. But the slim majority on Court that let the policy stay in place have signaled that they are inclined to believe that the Constitution’s guarantees can be summarily withheld from certain people, even those people whose only offense appears to be their willingness to die for their country. These service members—and all transgender Americans—deserve the full measure of the unalienable rights promised in the nation’s founding documents.
“Just a day after we celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., it is worthwhile to remember his words from Letter from Birmingham Jail: ‘Justice too long delayed is justice denied.’ This injustice cannot and will not stand.”
