“The only thing that should matter when it comes to allowing military personnel to serve is whether or not they can handle the job.”
Elizabeth Warren says if she’s elected president, she’ll overturn Trump’s trans military ban on her first day in office.
The Democratic candidate made the claim as part of a detailed plan that will tackle the needs of the military and its veterans and roll-back the archaic, transphobic laws put in place by the Trump administration.
“I’ll reverse [the trans military ban] on the first day of my presidency,” Warren states in the plan. “The only thing that should matter when it comes to allowing military personnel to serve is whether or not they can handle the job.”
According to her 7500-word plan – titled Keeping Our Promises to Our Service Members, Veterans, and Military Families – Warren will also provide “all medically necessary care related to the health of transgender people” including surgery.
It also makes it clear “that we will protect veterans and family members of serving military personnel from deportation, and we will review the cases of those who have been deported for possible return to the United States.”
The plan explains further: “The Trump administration has taken steps to withdraw deportation protections from military family members, including family of service members deployed in combat overseas.
“And under DoD’s current policies, immigrant troops are being denied citizenship at a rate higher than their civilian counterparts, and applications for naturalization as a result of military service dropped 72 percent between 2017 and 2018.
“This is a disgrace. It also undermines military readiness.”
Warren has also pledged to ban ‘conversion therapy’ across the country and to allow gay and bisexual men to donate blood.
She also made a surprise appearance at RuPaul’s DragCon in New York City earlier this year and drew attention to the ongoing violence against transgender individuals in the United States.
“We need to call it out, and we need to fight back,” she continued. “Everybody should be able to go to school, to work, to get healthcare, or just walk down the street without fear of discrimination or violence. Equal means equal, period.”
After urging American residents to vote, she said: “I’m in this fight for LGBTQ+ equality. We’ve got a lot of work to do to make sure everyone is free to be who they are and to love who they love.”
Related: Jonathan Van Ness reveals he’s backing Elizabeth Warren in presidential election.