The following is the statement of John Knight, LGBT & HIV Project Director for the ACLU of Illinois:
“This craven act of discrimination is beneath the dignity of the United States and our military. Thousands of transgender service members have risked their lives fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan (among other places) and deserve better than a morning tweet dismissing that valuable service as unwanted and unappreciated.
Every single study on this issue demonstrates that there is absolutely no reason to deny transgender Americans the chance to serve and fight for their country like everyone else. This is politics at its worst.
The ACLU will continue to fight against the discrimination too many transgender people continue to face – in schools, in employment, in access to health care, and in the military. The commander-in-chief may turn a deaf ear but we are not going away.”
