New Evidence Illustrates Disarray, Dishonesty Behind Trump's Transgender Military Ban

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - September 21, 2018/strong> -- Palm Center Director Aaron Belkin issued the following statement about today's Buzzfeed report on a trove of e-mails confirming that President Trump did not consult military leaders before deciding to ban transgender troops:

"The e-mails reveal, yet again, how dishonest the Trump administration has been about the issue of transgender military service, beginning with Sarah Sanders's claim last summer that the decision to exclude transgender troops 'was a military decision.' The administration's dishonesty cannot conceal what we know from research and from military leaders' testimony: open service has been a success for two years. 14,700 transgender Americans are serving smoothly and without problems for readiness. As the Senate weighs confirming a Supreme Court justice who is likely to rule on the legality of the president's attempt to ban open service, the e-mails are a reminder that the Trump administration determines military personnel policy on the basis of politics, not evidence."

About The Palm Center

The Palm Center is an independent research institute committed to sponsoring state-of-the-art scholarship to enhance the quality of public dialogue about critical and controversial issues of the day. Our research has been published in leading social science journals and extensively consulted and cited by US military leaders. The Palm Center seeks to be a resource for scholars, policymakers, journalists, opinion leaders, students and the public at large. For more information, visit us at www.palmcenter.org.