Youngstown mayor urges Trump to reverse transgender military ban

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Mayor John A. McNally is urging President Donald Trump to reverse his declared ban on transgender service personnel serving in the U.S. military.

In a letter to the Republican president, McNally, a Democrat, wrote: “Every qualified and able-bodied transgender individual should be allowed to serve in any capacity in the United States military. More than 5,000 transgender military personnel are serving in our United States Armed Forces. Serving the country they love, they wear the uniform of their departments and swear an oath to protest and defend the American homeland and provide security around the globe.”

A Rand Corp. study has estimated between 1,320 and 6,630 out of 1.3 million active-duty troops are transgender.

Trump abruptly declared a ban Wednesday on transgender troops serving in the military Wednesday through Twitter rather than a formal announcement. It caught the Pentagon off guard, but on Thursday, top military leaders said they would continue to allow transgender troops to remain in uniform until Defense Secretary Jim Mattis receives an authoritative directive to remove them.

A White House spokeswoman said guidance on how to fully implement the policy was still being worked out.

McNally wrote: “Especially jarring in this decision [by Trump] is the White House’s inability to clearly articulate the ongoing status of transgender service persons currently serving in the military and how the presence of patriot transgender service persons disrupts the drive of American forces ‘to be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory.’”