Agree:
Barack Obama Former President of United States of America
All Americans who are qualified to serve should be able to serve
Sundar Pichai CEO at Google
I am grateful to the transgender members of the military for their service
Pierre Omidyar Founder at eBay & Omidyar Network
Everyone who takes an oath, puts on a uniform and serves with integrity deserves our gratitude and respect.
Mark Zuckerberg CEO at Facebook
Everyone should be able to serve their country -- no matter who they are
Eric Fanning Army secretary at the end of Obama’s term
How does this impact readiness? How many soldiers are not going to be deployable because of medical care that they’re receiving? And RAND’s analysis ― again, before the accession policy was set with the 18-month stability clause ― was that it would be as low as 29 to as high as 129 service members a year that would require medical, surgical treatment for transitioning. I suspect that number’s goi... See More
Kristin Beck Transgender retired United States Navy SEAL, writer
The money [for transgenders in the army] is negligible, you're talking about .000001% of the military budget.
Ash Carter Former US Secretary of Defense, former Harvard University professor
We must ensure that everyone who’s able and willing to serve has the full and equal opportunity to do so, and we must treat all our people with the dignity and respect they deserve. Regulations regarding transgender service members [i.e. banning open transgender individuals from the US army] are outdated and are causing uncertainty that distracts commanders from our core missions
Sheryl Sandberg American technology executive, activist, and author
We should be grateful for everyone, including those in the transgender community, willing to serve our country
Canadian Forces The official Twitter page of the Canadian Armed Forces. En français: @ForcesCanada. For DND up
We welcome Canadians of all sexual orientations and gender identities [in the Canadian Forces]
Adam Smith Democrat, member of the United States House of Representatives
Trump's announcement "an unwarranted and disgraceful attack on men and women who have been bravely serving their country."
Joni Ernst American politician
What is most important is making sure service members can meet the physical training standards, and the willingness to defend our freedoms and way of life. While taxpayers shouldn’t cover the costs associated with a gender reassignment surgery, Americans who are qualified and can meet the standards to serve in the military should be afforded that opportunity
Kevin Yoder Republican US Representative
In an era where the United States depends on a voluntary fighting force to protect our freedoms, anyone who wants to serve our country should be able to. But I believe taxpayer dollars should not be spent on gender reassignment therapies or surgeries
Alex Burton Commander UK Maritime Forces - Husband, Father, Warrior, Sailor
No, we don't support that ban. I want our military to be completely open. It is right that the military should be equally open to anybody, irrespective of their race, their colour, their gender their sexuality. That is only right.Disagree:
James Mattis United States Secretary of Defense
On my first day as Secretary of Defense, I wrote, ‘Every action we take will be designed to ensure our military is ready to fight today and in the future.’ It is imperative we align our actions to our larger mission and that we disaggregate priorities that increase the lethality of our forces from functions that are wasteful and unnecessary
Donald J. Trump President of the USA
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
Steve King US representative for Iowa
We don’t need to be experimenting with the military. Plus there’s no reason to take on that kind of financial burden
Rick Perry 14th Secretary of @Energy and former Governor of Texas.
The idea that the American people need to be paying for these types of operations to change your sex is not very wise from a standpoint of economics. I think the president makes some good decisions about making sure that we have a force that is capable
Rep. Vicky Hartzler Republican U.S. Representative for Missouri's 4th congressional district since 2011
By recruiting and allowing transgender individuals to serve in our military we are subjecting taxpayers to high medical costs including up to $130,000 per transition surgery, lifetime hormone treatments, and additional surgeries to address the high percentage of individuals who experience complications. [...] This is also an issue of fairness. Currently we refuse entrance into our armed forces fo... See More
