More than 100 members of Congress call on Jim Mattis to overturn transgender troop ban

Tom Vanden Brook | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — More than 100 members of Congress signed a letter Tuesday calling on Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to reverse the Pentagon’s ban on most transgender people from military service, citing medical studies that show no need to exclude them.

The letter, authored by Rep. Joe Kennedy III, D-Mass., takes aim at the Pentagon study that recommended transgender people be allowed to serve only under limited circumstances. Kennedy and his colleagues accused the Pentagon of “cherry-picking” outdated studies to reach its conclusion.

“There is a deep chasm between established medical research and the underlying analysis your Department used to justify this policy, and we call on you to reverse your recommendations,” Kennedy wrote.

The letter also called on Mattis to identify the members of the panel he chose to develop guideline on transgender service. The panel was named after President Trump last July called for a ban on transgender troops in a tweet. Trump approved the new ban developed under the direction of Mattis, but federal lawsuits have prevented it from taking effect.

The ban would overturn an Obama-era initiative from 2016 that allowed transgender troops to serve openly, seek treatment and join the services.

“The Trump Administration’s decision to ban transgender troops abandons our proudest values, undermines our armed forces, defies established medical research and ignores basic science," Kennedy said in a statement to USA TODAY.

"In attempting to create justification for the president’s thoughtless policy tweets, the Department of Defense used outdated studies and cherry-picked data. If President Trump and his administration are committed to all of our service members, they will immediately reverse this bigoted ban.”

Kennedy and 120 colleagues noted that the American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association and American Psychological Association have expressed opposition to the ban. James Madara, a physician and CEO for the AMA has written that there is no “medically valid reason — including a diagnosis of gender dysphoria — to exclude transgender individuals from military service.”

In April, Mattis defended the policy in testimony on Capitol Hill. Mattis said rules put in place in 2016 allowing transgender troops to serve openly had prevented military officials from discussing problems associated with their service. Mattis called for the ban based on his panel’s findings that transgender troops would affect unit cohesion and readiness for combat.

Mattis has taken issue with a Pentagon-commissioned report by the non-partisan RAND Corp. that found transgender troops would have negligible effect on military readiness and cost for medical treatment. He established his own panel of experts, including senior officers and enlisted troops, to examine issues regarding their service.

“This ban, similar to laws against racial integration, gender integration, and service by gay men, lesbians and bi-sexual people, is antithetical to our country’s and our military’s values and belies the extraordinary commitment by our transgender service members,” the letter says.

The Pentagon has declined to comment on the ban while it is being contested in court.