While Defense Secretary James Mattis waits on a “study” to determine wether he thinks transgender troops are fit to serve in the military, the Pentagon’s top uniformed officer, General Joseph F. Dunford Jr., told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that he has advised Trump not to implement the ban, the LA Times reports.
Dunford told the committee, “I would say that I believe any individual who meets the physical and mental standards and is worldwide deployable and is currently serving should be afforded the opportunity to serve.”
In July, Trump announced the ban on transgender troops via Twitter, justifying the order less-than-poorly by writing that the military, “cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military wold entail.”
A day after Trump tweeted that intolerant shit, Dunford sent out a memo notifying military commanders that the Defense Department would continue to treat transgender troops with respect while the White House hammered out its policy.
When Trump announced the ban, he said he’d made the decision “in consultation with my Generals,” an assertion which now begs the question: And which generals might those be?
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