General Mattis Indicates He Will Not Roll Back Open LGBT Military Service As Secretary of Defense

Thursday, January 12, 2017

WASHINGTON -- Today, the nation’s leading organizations for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) service members and their families -- the American Military Partner Association (AMPA) and OutServe-SLDN -- issued the following joint statement following comments made by President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, retired General James Mattis, during confirmation hearings this morning. General Mattis indicated he will not work to reverse the current policies that allow any qualified person to serve, including LGBT people.

“We are heartened by General Mattis’ stated commitment during his testimony not to reverse the profound progress we have made in ensuring LGBT service members and their families are able to serve our nation with pride,” said AMPA President Ashley Broadway-Mack and OutServe-SLDN Executive Director Matt Thorn. “Because questions had been raised about his commitment on this front, uncertainty in the future had given our military families great cause for concern. His comments today give us hope for a working relationship between our organizations and the new Defense Department leadership. If confirmed, we look forward to working with General Mattis in supporting our nation’s brave heroes and their families. We are committed to holding the incoming administration accountable and ensuring all who serve, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, have the support and respect they need and deserve.”

During his prepared testimony, General Mattis said, “We open the door to all patriots who are eligible and meet the standards, provide them with the training, equipment, and leadership that's central to their success, and ensure all service members are treated with dignity and respect.”

When asked by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) about his support for LGBT service members currently serving our nation, General Mattis said, “Senator, my belief is that we have to stay focused on a military that’s so lethal that on the battlefield it will be the enemies’ longest day and their worst day when they run into that force. I believe that military service is a touchstone for patriots of whatever stripe. It’s simply the way that they demonstrate their commitment. And I believe right now that the policies that are in effect, unless a service chief brings something to me where there’s a problem that’s been proven, then I’m not going in with the idea that I’m going to review these and right away start rolling something back.” He went on to say, “Frankly, I’ve never cared much about two consenting adults and who they go to bed with.”

Later, Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) asked him directly, “Is there something innate in being a woman or LGBT that would cause you to believe that they could not be part of a lethal force?” General Mattis replied with a simple, “no.”

I told my wife Tuesday to get ready for something dramatic from Trump, probably delivered by tweet. I didn't know what it would be, but I expected something bizarre or outrageous. How did I predict this? It was because Jared had taken center stage/front page, for too long.....and Trump needed the focus returned to him.

The pattern is there for anyone who cares to look. Every time Trump precipitously "announces" some shit, without consulting his own staff, someone else had taken the limelight away from him just prior. It irritates me to see the MSM, and pundits, constantly trying to cipher some overriding policy shift, or any policy at all, out of the myriad goofy tweets that arrive daily. There simply ISN'T ANY. These are ad hoc scripts, written either late at night or early in the morning, based on the previous nights cable news binge watching. If Trump doesn't get top billing, he'll do something dramatic or shocking to get back up there.

Here's the guy who said "I alone can fix this", " I know more about ISIS than the Generals" and " you're going to get such good healthcare, at a fraction of the cost...it'll be so easy". None of those pronouncements were true....because he had not given ANY thought to those issues, beyond the sound bytes/optics of the statement. Here's the thing - he STILL hasn't given any thought to the issues, because that's not what he does, it's not his claim to fame. His MO is to get someone else to do what he wants done, or get fired, without any direction from him at all, because he has none to give.

This Transgender announcement is not a policy, DoD does not accept policy statements via twitter, and until the WH issues an official directive to Mattis.............it's just more Trump bullshit. It is a mistake to assume that Trump had given this any thought beyond " this'll get 'em riled up!". Continuing to get riled up over stupid tweets is a mistake. My advice is to ignore them.............and him.

Yes Trump is the most transparent president ever made myself laugh at that one, though to listen to the nut case yesterday he's "The Most Presidential President in the history of our country"!!!! Oh except for Lincoln. he's a riot and hes done this in being in office for just 7 months, he's just fantastic...what a joke.

Paul Szoldra
Business Insider,
Wednesday, July 26, 2017

A retired Navy SEAL Team 6 hero who is transgender had a message for President Donald Trump after he announced the US military would bar transgender people from serving.

"Let's meet face to face and you tell me I'm not worthy," Kristin Beck, a 20-year veteran of the Navy SEALs, told Business Insider on Wednesday. "Transgender doesn't matter. Do your service."

Beck said Trump's abrupt change in policy could negatively affect many currently or wanting to serve in the military. The RAND Corporation estimated in 2016 that there were between 1,320 and 6,630 transgender people serving. Many of them just want to serve their country like everyone else, Beck said.

"Being transgender doesn't affect anyone else," Beck said. "We are liberty's light. If you can't defend that for everyone that's an American citizen, that's not right."

Beck is not just your average service member. Born Christopher Beck, she served for 20 years in the Navy with SEAL Teams 1, 5, and, eventually, the elite 6. She deployed 13 times over two decades, including stints in Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. She received the Bronze Star award for valor and the Purple Heart for wounds suffered in combat. (Those were among Beck's twenty-seven awards/medals/commendations)

"I was defending individual liberty," she said. "I defended for Republicans. I defended for Democrats. I defended for everyone."

In a series of tweets, Trump said the decision was based on the costs of medical services that transgender service members could use. But "the money is negligible," Beck said. "You're talking about .000001% of the military budget.

"They care more about the airplane or the tank than they care about people," Beck said. "They don't care about people. They don't care about human beings."

When asked about potential problems with unit cohesion or war fighting, Beck said those were not issues that would arise from transgender service members, but from leadership.

"A very professional unit with great leadership wouldn't have a problem," Beck said. "I can have a Muslim serving right beside Jerry Falwell, and we're not going to have a problem. It's a leadership issue, not a transgender issue."