Los Angeles – In response to today’s announcement from the Pentagon that transgender Americans will now be allowed to serve openly in the U.S. military, Equality California Executive Director Rick Zbur issued the following statement:
“Today’s announcement, like the lifting of the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ ban that kept gay men and lesbians from serving openly, recognizes the reality that thousands of transgender troops serve with honor and distinction. Traditionally, their country has not honored their contribution. Forcing them to hide who they are undermined both the personal integrity of those troops and the integrity of the U.S. armed forces as a whole. Lifting the ban makes all of us stronger.
As we have seen so many times before – in the long battles for marriage equality, for anti-discrimination protections and over ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ itself – when government condones discrimination it gives others tacit permission to do so as well. Today’s announcement is a strong statement that the federal government is moving away from discrimination. It sends a powerful message to states that still seek to target LGBT people with discrimination that these archaic policies have no place in a modern, respectful America.”
###
Equality California is the nation’s largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization dedicated to creating a fair and just society. Our mission is to achieve and maintain full and lasting equality, acceptance, and social justice for all people in our diverse LGBT communities, inside and outside of California. Our mission includes advancing the health and well-being of LGBT Californians through direct healthcare service advocacy and education. Through electoral, advocacy, education and mobilization programs, we strive to create a broad and diverse alliance of LGBT people, educators, government officials, communities of color and faith, labor, business, and social justice communities to achieve our goals. www.eqca.org
