Outgoing Army Secretary Eric Fanning
said this week that he does not believe the incoming Trump
administration will attempt to undermine openly LGBT service in the
military.
Fanning, the nation's first openly gay
Army secretary, made his comments at the 2016 International LGBT
Leaders Conference.
When a member of the audience asked
Fanning his take as it relates to LGBT rights on the leaders
President-elect Donald Trump has selected to head the military,
Fanning answered that they seemed focuses on national security and
budgetary issues, not LGBT issues.
“I sincerely believe, and based on
the questions we’re getting from the transition team that’s
coming in, they’re very much focused on the size and shape of the
military, the budgetary political issues outside the Pentagon that
they have to stabilize in order to give some planning stability for
the military, and I think they’re going to dive head-long into
those challenges around the world,” Fanning
said.
“I've never had a conversation with
any of them about these issues. I don't know what they're going to
do.”
Fanning reiterated that reinstating
Don't Ask, Don't Tell would be a difficult task.
“Having a conversation about whether
someone can come into the military, whether someone really can serve
is different than having them in and then saying you guys are out
now, take off. When someone's in a uniform, no matter who it is,
[senior uniform leadership] feel a responsibility for that person,
and once the policy changes, the thinking about it changes,”
Fanning said.
Fanning warned that “we have to be
vigilant” about tweaks to the policy that could “create some
friction,” especially in regard to the policy involving openly
transgender service, which hasn't been fully implemented yet.