The recently confirmed secretary of the
Navy on Thursday told reporters that while he will follow any order
the president gives on transgender troops, “any patriot” should
be allowed to serve.
Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer
weighed in on the issue after visiting Naval Station Norfolk in
Virginia.
“We will process and take direction
of a policy that is developed by the [Defense] secretary [with]
direction from the president and march out smartly,” Spencer told
reporters, according
to The
Hill.
“On a fundamental basis, any patriot
that wants to serve and meets all the requirements should be able to
serve in our military,” he added.
During his Senate confirmation hearing,
Spencer said that military policies should be developed by the
Pentagon and that individual military branches should not be a “petri
dish for social experiments.”
President Donald Trump announced the
policy change earlier this month in a series of tweets, saying that
the military will no longer “accept or allow” transgender troops
to serve “in any capacity.” On Thursday, Trump
said that he thinks he's “doing the military a great favor” by
barring transgender people from serving in the military.
(Related: Coast
Guard Commandant Paul Zukunft says he won't turn his back on
transgender troops.)