A transgender military service person station in Massachusetts and serving in the US Navy has become the first in the nation to receive a waiver to continue serving since the military enacted the transgender military ban.
“On March 17,” we reported, “GLAD filed the first challenge to the federal ban against transgender people serving in the US military since the ban went into effect in April 2019. GLAD filed the case, Doe v. Esper, jointly with the National Center for Lesbian Rights in the federal district court of Massachusetts.”
The waiver comes just as the government was due to file its response to the suit this week.
“The ban has been in place for over a year and this is the first waiver to be granted,” GLAD’s Transgender Rights Project Director Jennifer Levi said in a joint GLAD and NCLR press release issued on May 15.
“While we are relieved that our client, a highly qualified Naval officer, will be able to continue her service, there are other equally qualified transgender service members who have sought waivers and are still in limbo, despite being perfectly fit to serve. Dedicated military service members shouldn’t have to bring a lawsuit to be able to continue doing their job,” Levi said.
“There is no basis for treating transgender service members differently by requiring them to seek a waiver that no one else has to obtain in order to continue to serve,” said Shannon Minter, NCLR Legal Director. “While we are relieved for our client, requiring transgender service members to jump through this discriminatory hoop makes no sense and only underscores the irrationality of the ban. Being transgender has nothing to do with a person’s fitness to serve, and transgender individuals should be held to the same standards as other service members.”
“We are ecstatic both for the Sailor and the breach of the waiver logjam,” said Emma Shinn, president of SPART*A, which advocates for actively serving transgender military members, veterans, and their families. “I am hopeful that this is the first of many; but the fight is far from over.”
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