The heads of the British armed forces and the Canadian Army on Thursday expressed support for transgender soldiers after United States President Donald Trump said his government will not allow transgender individuals to serve in the US military “in any capacity”, The Independent reported.
United Kingdom’s Second Sea Lord Vice Admiral Jonathan Woodcock said he will always support the desire of the Royal Navy’s transgender soldiers to serve their country.
“They bring diversity to our Royal Navy,” he wrote on Twitter. “I suspect that many of those who doubt the abilities of our diverse service personnel might be more reluctant to serve than they are to comment.”
On Twitter, the Canadian Armed forces said they invited nationals of all sexual orientations and gender identities.
The commander of the UK Maritime Forces Rear Admiral Alex Burton said their rigorous selection process did not include any kind of discrimination.
“As a Royal Navy LGBT champion and senior warfighter I am so glad we are not going this way,” he said. “We are a better fighting force for it.”
Meanwhile, hundreds of transgender people took to the streets in Times Square to protest against Trump’s latest controversial ban, reported Reuters.
On Wednesday, in a series of tweets, Trump had said the decision was made after consulting with generals and other military experts. “Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail,” he had said.
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