8/29/2017

JAMES MATTIS/LGBTQ/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Defense Secretary Jim Mattis kicked President Trump’s proposed ban on transgender people serving in the military down the road, announcing that transgender service members will continue to be allowed to serve pending the results of a study.
In a statement on Tuesday [8-29-17] evening, Mr. Mattis said that he was establishing a panel of experts, serving within the Pentagon and the Homeland Security Department, whose task will be to ‘provide advice and recommendations on the implementation of the president’s direction.’
Mr. Trump announced last month in an abrupt series of tweets that transgender people would no longer be allowed to serve in the military. The Twitter messages took the Pentagon by surprise, and since then, Defense Department officials have been trying to cobble together a policy that takes into account their desire to allow currently serving transgender people to remain, while at the same time following the dictates of a commander in chief who, by most accounts, had not put a lot of study into the ramifications of his instructions.
Last week, Mr. Trump signed the directive precluding transgender individuals from serving, but gave Mr. Mattis wide discretion in determining whether those already in the armed forces can continue to serve. By putting the onus on Mr. Mattis, the president appeared to open the door to allowing at least some transgender service members to remain in the military, contrary to his initial tweet that all would be disallowed.
Mr. Mattis’s statement on Tuesday appeared to open that door further.”

-Helene Cooper, “Mattis Says Panel Will Study Trump’s Transgender Military Ban,” The New York Times online, Aug. 29, 2017