Tony Perkins, president of the
Christian conservative Family Research Council (FRC), has applauded
President Donald Trump's announcement that most transgender people
will not be allowed to serve in the military.
Trump said in the announcement issued
late Friday night that he had based his decision on the
recommendation of Defense Secretary James Mattis. Mattis'
recommendation complicates ongoing litigation that has blocked the
ban's implementation, because courts generally defer to military
leaders on issues related to the military.
(Related: Despite
court orders, Trump announces new ban on transgender troops.)
“President Trump is keeping his
pledge to end the Obama era of social experimentation in our nation’s
military. In the fall of 2016, I co-moderated a veterans townhall
meeting where candidate Donald Trump was asked how he would handle
social engineering and political correctness being forced on the
military,” Perkins said in a statement, referring to an event held
in October, 2016 in Virginia.
“He responded saying, ‘We are going
to get away from political correctness.’ The revised personnel
policy announced today does exactly that – it moves the military
away from political correctness and puts the focus on the military’s
mission: preparing to fight and win wars.”
“President Trump is moving the
military away from the crippling policies of the Obama era that left
our nation’s defenses at its lowest levels of readiness since
before WWII. He recognizes that the last thing we should be doing is
diverting tax payer dollars from mission-critical training to funding
for controversial gender reassignment surgeries and transgender
sensitivity training for service members. The president is keeping
his promises and advancing policies essential to keeping our military
strong and our country safe,” Perkins, a vocal opponent of LGBT
rights, added.