LGBT activists are calling on the U.S.
Senate to reject President Donald Trump's nominee to become secretary
of the Army.
On Friday, the White House announced
that Trump had picked Tennessee state Senator Mark Green for the
post.
A former Army officer and West Point
graduate, Green is popular among conservative Republicans.
LGBT activists say that putting Green,
a 52-year-old physician, in charge of the Army would be
“unconscionable” given his opposition to LGBT rights.
“Mark Green is a danger to every
LGBTQ soldier bravely serving our country,” said Chad Griffin,
president of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). “Mark Green has
called for states to refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex
couples and appallingly said that being transgender is a ‘disease.’
He has used his office in Tennessee to push ‘license to
discriminate’ legislation and undermine the basic civil rights of
LGBTQ people at every turn. It would be unconscionable to put this
man in charge of our Army. We call on every U.S. Senator to stand up
for LGBTQ service members and reject this nomination.”
Stephen Peters, national press
secretary for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), added: “As a Marine
discharged under ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ I am appalled that
Donald Trump would seek to put this man in charge of the U.S. Army.
Under President Obama’s leadership, we finally ended policies that
forced service members, their partners, and families to hide who they
are and treated them as second class citizens. There are thousands
upon thousands of us who fought this injustice so that we could serve
openly today – and who are now threatened by the appointment of a
man who has spent his career working to undermine our rights.”
If confirmed by the Senate, Green would
succeed Eric Fanning, who made history during the Obama-era as the first
openly gay person to head the Army.