“These states and the nation will benefit from retaining, and hopefully accessing, all who are qualified, regardless of gender identity.”
— B Fram, SPART*A communications director
RE:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/nevada...20Bird%20Brief
— B Fram, SPART*A communications director
SPART*A, an organization that supports transgender service members, told The Daily Beast that they are pleased by the growing number of states who are pressing opposition to the transgender troop ban in this manner.
“SPART*A supports any and all organizations, including military organizations, that stand against discrimination and encourage the best and the brightest to serve our nation,” SPART*A communications director B Fram told The Daily Beast. “[These states] and the nation will benefit from retaining, and hopefully accessing, all who are qualified, regardless of gender identity.”
It is currently unclear how—or if—the Department of Defense will respond to individual states announcing that transgender service can continue within their respective National Guard organizations. Reached for comment, a DoD spokesperson referred The Daily Beast to spokespeople for the United States Army who, in turn, did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Also unclear is how these states—California, New Mexico, and Nevada—will skirt the Trump administration’s policy. Maj. Gen. Beevers, for example, told The Hill—a bit cryptically—that the California National Guard will “exercise every available avenue inside the policy and out, to ensure transgendered people who want to serve the California National Guard are afforded the opportunity to serve.”
(The California National Guard did not immediately provide further clarification to The Daily Beast after being reached for comment.)
Gov. Jay Inslee’s spokesperson did seem to acknowledge that the Trump administration’s policy could pose certain limitations: “As a branch of the U.S. military, the National Guard is subject to the same federal eligibility rules everywhere."
Elsewhere, however, the impact of the transgender troop ban is continuing to make itself known: the Naval Academy will ban transgender students in 2020, as will the Air Force Academy. The Coast Guard Academy, as the Associated Press reported, will also turn away transgender applicants.
This on top of signs that the Trump administration’s policy is already taking a human toll: Map Pesqueira, a University of Texas at Austin freshman and a transgender man, revealed last week that he had lost his military scholarship because he had undergone transition-related medical care. Pesqueira has since been able to raise over $25,000 through a GoFundMe to help cover school expenses.
As military academies fall in line with the policy, five states have now reiterated that they will continue to find ways to welcome transgender people into their National Guard organizations. Time will tell if that number grows further.
UPDATE 4/25/19 3:30 P.M.: This piece has been updated to reflect new statements from the Oregon and Washington State governor’s offices.