White House: No Comment on Transgender Military Service

White House press secretary Josh Earnest declined to weigh in on whether transgender Americans should be allowed to serve openly in the U.S. military.

A reporter asked about a Thursday editorial in the New York Times urging the the government to allow transgender troops to serve openly.

The reporter asked, “Does the White House have a position?”

“We don’t,” Earnest answered

AP Photo/Evan Vucci

Earnest also declined to take a follow up question from another reporter on the topic.

The Times editorial said:

While transgender civilians in the federal work force enjoy robust legal protections from discrimination, those in the armed forces may be discharged at any moment. The Pentagon, shamefully, has yet to rescind anachronistic personnel guidelines that prohibit openly transgender people from joining in the military, labeling their condition a “paraphilia,” or perversion.

The policy has forced thousands to serve in silence, repressing an essential part of their identity. The Williams Institute at the U.C.L.A. School of Law, which researches gender issues, estimates there are about 15,500 transgender troops serving in uniform