The Great Smoky Mountain Journal
Staff Reports
Posted: Monday, January 01, 2018 12:28 PM
FAITH: STARNES: President Trump's Decision On Transgender Ban Huge Victory For Conservatives, Religious Leaders
"The militant liberal agenda has not only savaged the moral values of our country but has imperiled the defense of our nation by adding needless confusion, complication, and expense," said Robert Jeffress, the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas.
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Jeffress said people suffering from gender identity confusion should be treated with compassion and counseling, not exploited by the Left to further a liberal ideology.
"Thank God for a President who is willing to say 'Enough is enough!' I applaud President Trump for exercising his judgment as Commander-in-Chief to make America safer and more secure by allowing our armed forces to concentrate on 'decisive and overwhelming victory' rather than serving as a petri dish for social experimentation," Jeffress told The Todd Starnes Show.
President Trump announced his decision on Twitter -- stunning many - including some in the Pentagon.
"After consultation with my generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military," the president wrote. "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."
Among those who led the charge to ban transgender people from serving in the military was the Family Research Council.
"This is a major victory for conservatives, for our military and it's a milestone from a standpoint of ending and reversing Obama-era social engineering policies that really crippled our nation's military," Family Research Council president Tony Perkins told The Todd Starnes Show.
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO) had proposed an amendment to a spending bill that would have banned the Pentagon from spending money on transition surgery or related hormone therapy.
"Our military is not advancing the desires of individuals. Our military is about collectively advancing the interests of America and securing our nation's future," Perkins told me.
The ACLU andrthe Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers were among those denouncing the president's decision.
“There is little justification to oppose open Transgender service as well as full health care support for servicemen and veterans for full sexual reassignment,” said Jason Torpy, president of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers. “This order serves to harm military readiness and deeply insults already-serving transgender patriots in the military.”
Rand Corporation estimates as many as 2,450 service members are transgender - just a fraction of the 1.3 million people serving in the military.
"It's not about the individual - it's about the military, " Perkins said. "President Obama used the military for the advancement of his radical social agenda. This president is saying no. The military is there for one purpose only - to keep America secure."