Story highlights Gayle Tzemach Lemmon: Military leaders have championed the idea that anyone qualified to serve should serve

Trump should listen to them, she writes

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon is a a CNN contributor and senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. She is the author of "Ashley's War: The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield." The opinions expressed in this commentary are hers.

(CNN) In July, President Donald Trump tweeted that the government "will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the US military."

Then two senators -- New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins -- tried to amend the wide-ranging $700 billion defense bill the Senate approved Monday with a measure that would challenge that ban and "protect" transgender troops.

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

And now Sen. John McCain is co-sponsoring a bill that would ban preventing transgender service members who want to continue serving America. Senators Gillibrand and Collins are part of the McCain-backed legislation.

"When less than 1% of Americans are volunteering to join the military, we should welcome all those who are willing and able to serve our country," McCain said in a statement. "Any member of the military who meets the medical and readiness standards should be allowed to serve -- including those who are transgender."

That the US military is even considering a transgender ban is just one more sign of a country so divorced from what it is asking of those in uniform that it prioritizes items such as kicking out otherwise qualified troops, rather than focusing on readiness and fighting the wars already underway. Indeed, military leaders understand this and have championed the idea that anyone qualified to serve should serve. Period.

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