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New Navy Secretary: Trans sailors are ‘patriots’ & should be allowed to serve

New Navy Secretary: Trans sailors are ‘patriots’ & should be allowed to serve
Capt. Craig Clapperton, commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), speaks about the importance of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) celebration. Theodore Roosevelt is currently moored and homeported in San Diego and is undergoing a scheduled Planned Maintenance Availability. Photo: (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Alex Millar/Released)

The newly confirmed Secretary of the Navy walked a fine line between obeying the Commander-In-Chief and pushing back against Trump’s nonsensical ban on transgender people serving in the military. While the president claimed he had consulted with his “generals and military experts,” not a single one of them has come out in support of his proposed ban. In fact, quite the opposite.

Today Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer became the latest commander to publicly but softly rebuke Trump for his decision issued via Twitter, saying he would follow orders, but strongly disagreed with them.

“We will process and take direction of a policy that is developed by the [Defense] secretary [with] direction from the president and march out smartly,” he told reporters.

“On a fundamental basis, any patriot that wants to serve and meets all the requirements should be able to serve in our military”

Yesterday, Trump claimed he was “doing the military a favor” by banning trans service members.

The Commandant of the Coast Guard, however, has said he won’t “break faith” with service members and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford has said the current policy would remain in effect until Trump’s tweets become actual policy.

No member of military leadership has come forward to support Trump’s decision. While Trump refused to recognize LGBT Pride Month, the Navy did.

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