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Old 04-25-2019, 05:53 AM
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Arrow National Guard in California, Nevada, Washington State, Oregon, and New Mexico Defy T

National Guard in California, Nevada, Washington State, Oregon, and New Mexico Defy Trump’s Trans Troops Ban
By: Samantha Allen - Daily Beast
RE: https://www.thedailybeast.com/nevada...20Bird%20Brief

Nevada, Washington State, and Oregon have joined California and New Mexico in allowing trans people to continue to serve in the National Guard, defying Trump’s ban.

The Nevada, Washington State, and Oregon National Guards will continue to allow transgender people to serve.

As the Trump administration’s transgender troop ban enters its second full week of being in effect, these three states have told The Daily Beast that they will join two others—California and New Mexico—who have said that transgender people will continue to be able to serve in their National Guard organizations.

“The State of Nevada does not discriminate against anyone, including and especially servicemembers, based on gender identity or expression,” Helen Kalla, communications director for Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, told The Daily Beast. “Governor Sisolak believes the only criteria to serve in the Nevada National Guard is one’s readiness to serve.”

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown told The Daily Beast that she is “appalled that the Supreme Court is delivering an intentional blow to civil rights by supporting a push from the Trump Administration to bar transgender people from serving in the military.”

“I will use every option available to ensure that every eligible Oregonian, regardless of gender identity, can serve their state and country,” Gov. Brown added.

A spokesperson for Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee told The Daily Beast that his office “stands in solidarity with transgender Americans across the country in opposing this policy and won’t stop fighting until it is defeated.”

“Until then, we will continue to welcome transgender service members to the greatest extent possible under the rules,” the spokesperson added. “It’s our understanding that is what New Mexico is doing as well.”

All 50 states—and four U.S. territories—have their own National Guard units that are primarily under gubernatorial control. That chain of command could allow individual governors to challenge—or at least test the limits of—the Trump administration’s newly-implemented policy, which disqualifies recruits with gender dysphoria while threatening most currently-serving transgender people with the risk of discharge.

As The Hill reported shortly after the transgender troop ban ban went into effect on April 12, Maj. Gen. Matthew Beavers of the California National Guard said that gender identity “is the least of our concerns.”

He added that California will not only work to “bring transgender individuals in under the current policy” but also that “every transgendered soldier or airmen currently serving in the California National Guard will remain in our ranks.”

“Further,” Maj. Gen. Beevers noted, “we will not treat any soldier or airman any differently today than we did yesterday.”

Then, on April 20, a spokesperson for New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham confirmed to local TV station KOB4 that transgender service will still be permitted within the state’s National Guard, making it the second state to buck against the intention of the Trump administration’s ban in this fashion.

Reached for comment, Gov. Lujan Grisham’s communications director Tripp Stelnicki told The Daily Beast, “We’re not interested in auditing any individual’s fitness to serve on the basis of gender identity.”

Now, the addition of Nevada, Washington and Oregon makes five. All five of these states have Democratic governors. All five also number among the minority of states that have non-discrimination protections for transgender people in the areas of employment, housing, and public accommodations. Combined, the five states boast a total of over 40,000 people serving in their National Guard organizations.

(The Daily Beast has reached out to several other governor’s offices for comment on their handling of transgender service within their respective National Guard organizations and will update this story as they respond.)
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O Almighty Lord God, who neither slumberest nor sleepest; Protect and assist, we beseech thee, all those who at home or abroad, by land, by sea, or in the air, are serving this country, that they, being armed with thy defence, may be preserved evermore in all perils; and being filled with wisdom and girded with strength, may do their duty to thy honour and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"IN GOD WE TRUST"
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