logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

Some Police Welcome Transgender Troops if Military Ban Moves Forward

Sheela Nimishakavi
August 8, 2017
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
“Welcome Mat” by VerdeSam

August 3, 2017; New York Times

In a series of tweets, because that’s how presidential proclamations are delivered these days, President Trump barred all transgender individuals from serving in the military. On Wednesday, July 26, 2017, the tweets read, in sequence, “After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail.”

Several cities and police departments around the country have reached out to the trans community and shown their support with the message that their departments would welcome any trans military members who were kicked out due to the ban. Departments in Houston and Austin, Texas; Aurora, Colorado; and Cincinnati, Ohio encouraged those kicked out of the military to apply for police jobs in their regions.

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

“If you are dismissed from our military because of who you are, know that you are welcome in the city of Cincinnati and our police department,” Chris Seelbach, a city councilman, said at a protest last Wednesday in response to Mr. Trump’s announcement.

While White House staff scrambled to answer questions, activists across the country rallied and petitioned against what has been called an “all-out assault on service members.” Some have called this a political move, an effort to diminish Democrats’ chances of winning elections in the Rust Belt states, while others call this a distraction from larger issues such as the Russian election investigation, the health care bill, and filling the 200 or so empty White House staff positions. Either way, it weakens the U.S. military by removing an estimated 15,000 active members from duty.

Although it began to appear as if a ban could not truly happen since no official plan was issued, on Friday, August 4th, White House sources indicated that a document titled “A Guidance Policy for Open Transgender Service Phase Out” would be released soon to implement the ban. According to the Washington Blade, “Sources familiar with the planning said it would encourage early retirement, usher out any enlisted personnel after their contract is up, and would fire trans officers up for promotion. Basically, said a source, ‘the administration wants to get rid of transgender service members as fast as they can.’” But, as with other directives from this administration, there appears to be a significant resistance to taking such a backward step.—Sheela Nimishakavi

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sheela Nimishakavi

Sheela Nimishakavi is a nonprofit finance and operations professional with a passion for creating socially just and inclusive communities. She has held senior management positions at several community based organizations addressing access to healthcare and services for persons with disabilities, currently serving as the Director of Operations of the Brain Injury Association of Virginia. After working in the nonprofit field for over a decade and seeing many organizations struggle with the administrative requirements of running a nonprofit, Sheela founded ThirdSuite, a consulting firm that offers nonprofit administrative services and trainings to help organizations increase their capacity and further their mission. Sheela received an MA/MPH in Health Policy and Management from Boston University School of Public Health, and a BS in Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior from the University of California, Davis. She currently serves on the boards of the Central Virginia Grant Professionals Association and Empowering People for Inclusive Communities.

More about: Nonprofit NewsPolicyPresident Donald TrumpTrans/nonbinary issuesTwitter

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

NPQ_Winter_2022Subscribe Today
You might also like
Cancelling Student Debt Is Necessary for Racial Justice
Kitana Ananda
To Save Legal Aid, Expand Public Service Loan Forgiveness
Zoë Polk
No Justice, No Peace of Mind and Body: The Health Impacts of Housing Insecurity for Black Women
Jhumpa Bhattacharya, Maile Chand and Andrea Flynn
The Human Impact of the Global Refugee Crisis Must Be Understood—And Acted Upon
Anmol Irfan
Black Americans Need Reparations: The Fight for the CTC Highlights the Roadblocks
Jhumpa Bhattacharya and Trevor Smith
Edgar Cahn’s Second Act: Time Banking and the Return of Mutual Aid
Steve Dubb

Upcoming Webinars

Group Created with Sketch.
February 23rd, 2 pm ET

Worker Power in the Social Sector

Register Now
Group Created with Sketch.
March 15th, 2 pm ET

Remaking the Economy

Caring for the Care Economy

Register Now
You might also like
Cancelling Student Debt Is Necessary for Racial Justice
Kitana Ananda
To Save Legal Aid, Expand Public Service Loan Forgiveness
Zoë Polk
No Justice, No Peace of Mind and Body: The Health Impacts of...
Jhumpa Bhattacharya, Maile Chand and Andrea Flynn

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.