U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and Representative Jim Banks of Indiana have introduced the “Ensuring Military Readiness Act,” which seeks to prevent Americans with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria from serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. The proposed legislation goes beyond the transgender military ban that was passed during the Trump administration in 2017, which was reversed by President Joe Biden soon after he took office in 2021. The bill also includes stricter requirements and an overhaul of the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) to ensure gender markers match biological sex.
Rubio and Banks have criticized the Biden administration for revoking the Trump era ban, accusing the government of turning the military into a “woke social experiment” and making a “purely political” decision based on “far left ideology.” Republican Senators Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Ted Budd of North Carolina, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, and Mike Braun of Indiana have all supported the bill, along with right-wing groups including the Family Research Council, designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
However, some lawmakers and advocacy groups have criticized the proposal. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia stated that the military should not discriminate against transgender Americans, and Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, Executive Director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, criticized the “harmful political attacks” on the community that “try to push us out of places where we live, learn, and work.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York tweeted that, “whether trans or otherwise, if you’re qualified, you should be permitted to serve.”
This proposal comes as the Biden administration has taken steps towards LGBTQ equality, including policies prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity across federal programs. However, if the bill passes, it would effectively ban transgender servicemembers from serving openly in the military.
