August 1, 2017

Dozens of Retired Generals and Admirals Just Slammed Trump’s Military Trans Ban

It would “deprive the military of mission-critical talent.”

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Less than a week after President Donald Trump tweeted that he would ban transgender service members from the military, dozens of retired generals and admirals have come out against the proposed policy, saying it would “cause significant disruptions” and “deprive the military of mission-critical talent.”

In a statement released on Tuesday by the Palm Center, a research institute that studies LGBT issues in the armed forces, 56 retired military leaders tore into Trump’s justification for the ban. While the president has argued it would be too expensive to pay for transgender troops’ medical care, the retired generals and admirals cited research showing the cost would amount to just “one-hundredth of one percent of the military’s annual health care budget.”

Trump’s tweets last Wednesday came as a shock to the Pentagon, which last year allowed transgender troops to serve openly for the first time in history. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff, General Joseph Dunford, has said “no modifications” will occur in the military’s policy until the president issues specific direction to the secretary of defense.

“President Trump seeks to ban transgender service members because of the financial cost and disruption associated with transgender service,” the retired generals and admirals wrote. “We respectfully disagree, and consider these claims to be without merit.” (Read the full statement here.)

Also on Tuesday, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft announced his opposition to the ban. At a Center for Strategic and International Studies event in Washington, he said the Coast Guard had reached out to the branch’s 13 transgender service members to reaffirm support. “I will not turn my back. We have made an investment in you and you have made an investment in the Coast Guard and I will not break faith,” Zukunft said. 

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

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And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

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