Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford said on Tuesday that he believes transgender troops should not be kicked out of the military based solely on their gender identity.
“Senator, I can promise that that will be my advice,” he told Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., when asked about President Trump’s call to ban transgender military service. “What I’ve just articulated is the advice I’ve provided in private and I’ve just provided in public.”
When asked if transgender troops have served their country “with honor and value,” Dunford said, “I do, senator.”
“I would say that I believe any individual who meets the physical and mental standards and is worldwide deployable and is currently serving should be afforded the opportunity to continue to serve,” he said.
Dunford said he had not yet met with transgender troops since Trump made his announcement in July, but he plans to do so.
The Palm Center applauded Dunford’s statement.
“President Trump has consistently said that he would listen to the generals when making military policy. The highest ranking member of our armed forces, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford, Jr., could not have been clearer when asked his views about transgender military service,” Director Aaron Belkin said in a statement after the hearing. “An estimated 12,800 troops currently defending our country are transgender, and they are no less deployable than their peers.”
When Trump made his announcement on July 26, he said he made it “in consultation with my Generals,” but it has been unclear with whom he actually consulted.
Two years ago, then-President Barack Obama appointed Dunford to be his top military adviser, and he has since taken on that job with President Trump. Tuesday’s hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee was for his reappointment to another two-year term.
After Trump’s announcement, which took the Pentagon by surprise, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said a panel of experts will formulate a policy on how to deal with currently serving members. Until the policy has been formulated, Mattis has said no one currently serving should be discharged strictly on the basis of their gender identity.
In 2015, then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter declared that transgender troops could serve openly and directed service chiefs to write a policy allowing for the enlistment of transgender people. The enlistment policy was never enacted.
Dunford’s sentiment is similar to one expressed by Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer, who said “any patriot” who can serve should be able to serve. But he has also promised to carry out Pentagon policy.
Gillibrand, along with Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, John McCain, R-Ariz., and Jack Reed, D-R.I., are co-sponsoring a bill to block Trump’s order to ban transgender military service.
“Any member of the military who meets the medical and readiness standards should be allowed to serve — including those who are transgender,” McCain said in a statement.
