August 18, 2017
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Condemns the Announced
Military Ban on Transgender Individuals
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, by majority vote, strongly urges the President to
reconsider his position as expressed on July 26, 2017 that “the United States Government will
not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military.” 1 The
Commission urges this Administration to recommit to the full protection of civil rights for all
persons in our country.
Thousands of transgender troops currently serve in the U.S. military and thousands more have
served and given their lives for the country throughout our history. 2 These military men and
women honor our country and defend all its citizens with their service. As a group of retired
military officers pointed out, the ban, “if implemented, would cause significant disruptions,
deprive the military of mission-critical talent, and compromise the integrity of transgender troops
who would be forced to live a lie, as well as non-transgender peers who would be forced to
choose between reporting their comrades or disobeying policy.” 3
Ironically, 69 years previously on the very same day in 1948, President Harry S. Truman issued
an executive order to desegregate the U.S. Military. 4 President Truman then correctly
recognized that the nation’s military strength and efficacy depend on equal treatment of its
troops. He saw that integration, notwithstanding predictable resistance to the change, was not
1 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter (Jul. 26, 2017, 8:55 AM),
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/890193981585444864 (“After consultation with my Generals and military experts,
please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow......”); Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump),
Twitter (Jul. 26, 2017, 9:04 AM), https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/890196164313833472 (“....Transgender
individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming.....”);
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter (Jul. 26, 2017, 9:08 AM),
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/890197095151546369 ( “....victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous
medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you”).
2 Schaefer, Agnes Gereben, Radha Iyengar, Srikanth Kadiyala, Jennifer Kavanagh, Charles C. Engel, Kayla M. Williams and
Amii Kress, Assessing the Implications of Allowing Transgender Personnel to Serve Openly, RAND Corporation, 2016,
available at https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR1530.html (finding that somewhere between 1,320 and 6,630
transgender individuals serve in the military; a more precise estimate was not possible given current data limitations); Gary J.
Gates and Jody L. Herman, Transgender Military Service in the United States, The Williams Institute, 2014, available at
https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Transgender-Military-Service-May-2014.pdf (estimating 149,800
transgender adults with military service, including 15,500 on active duty, with the National Guard, or in Reserve units).
3 Palm Center, Fifty-Six Retired Generals and Admirals Warn That President Trump’s Anti-Transgender Tweets, If Implemented,
Would Degrade Military Readiness, Aug. 1, 2017, http://www.palmcenter.org/fifty-six-retired-generals-admirals-warn-presidenttrumps-anti-transgender-tweets-implemented-degrade-military-readiness/.
4 Executive Order 9981, July 26, 1948; General Records of the United States Government; Record Group 11; National Archives,
available at https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=84.

 only possible but essential to living up to the American promise of equal treatment of all persons.
Retrenchment seven decades later egregiously fails to learn from our past.
The President’s mere announcement of a ban on transgender military service harms all
Americans by sending a message that fosters and encourages prejudice, inconsistent with our
core national values. If implemented, the ban would further harm Americans, and weaken our
defense, by enshrining unequal treatment of Americans based on rank stereotype.
Chair Catherine E. Lhamon stated: “Animus has no place in any aspect of American life. All
Americans deserve our government’s respect and protection, not affirmative harm from the
government itself. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights calls on the United States to satisfy the
civil rights protections that are the responsibility and obligation of the federal government.”
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The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is an independent, bipartisan agency charged with
advising the President and Congress on civil rights matters and issuing an annual federal civil
rights enforcement report. For information about the Commission, please visit
http://www.usccr.gov and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.