Veterans and Military Families Speak Out Against Trump’s DOJ Court Petition on Military Ban for Trans Soldiers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 24, 2025
PRESS CONTACT: press@commondefense.us
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The DOJ’s continued push to enshrine discrimination against qualified, honorably serving transgender soldiers is an affront to the values and ideals our military upholds. As veterans and military families who have fought alongside trans service members and as veterans who are trans and LGBTQ, we are appalled that the Trump Administration and the DOJ are continuing this pursuit after being rightly condemned and blocked by the courts in March.
This policy is not only unjust, but it is also a clear and direct attack on the value of diversity that has always made our military stronger. It disregards the sacrifices of transgender service members who have served honorably and threatens our military readiness by removing trained, capable personnel based on nothing other than political extremism.
For more than a decade, transgender service members have served openly and honorably in every branch of our armed forces, sacrificing for our nation. This new policy doesn’t just erase their contributions—it shatters the dreams of every transgender American who once aspired to wear the uniform and serve. That dream is now being stripped away.
Common Defense members and staff issued the following statements in response:
“This is the same garbage bigotry that people were spouting to keep the military racially segregated in the 1940s, trying to keep women from serving in combat roles, and to justify keeping gays and lesbians from serving our country through Undesirable Discharges and Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. This policy will harm military readiness by forcing out qualified and trained military members, and it is a betrayal to those brave men and women who raised their right hand to serve this country.” — Jacob Thomas, US Air Force veteran and Communications Director for Common Defense.
“Transgender people have served in the US military since its very beginnings, and we desire to continue to serve honorably and make our country proud. For a time, we had the right to serve openly, as our authentic selves, without deception, and it made our military stronger. To have our service now characterized as dishonorable or unworthy or ineffective for no other reason than our status as transgender people is open cruelty that will make our military less effective in defending the homeland, and fails to adhere to the highest traditions of military service. This will not keep transgender people from serving our country; it will only keep us in the closet. This shame will haunt our military for decades, as the scars and harms of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell still do today.” — Lene Mees de Tricht, US Navy & US Coast Guard veteran.
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Common Defense Civic Engagement is a grassroots, veteran-led organization (501c4) that was founded in 2016. We empower veterans to stand up for our communities against the rising tide of racism, hate, and violence, to organize against the entrenched powers that have rigged our economy, and to champion an equitable and representative democracy, where “liberty and justice” truly is for all. For too long, politicians from both political parties have attempted to use veterans as unwilling political props, and Common Defense serves as a home for veterans to organize and speak for themselves and support the candidates who truly share our values.