Meghan McCain blasts ‘un-American, dangerous’ transgender military ban
Meghan McCain attends the 2015 Trevor Project NextGen Fall Fete on November 13, 2015 in New York City. (Robin Marchant/Getty)
Meghan McCain has hit out at Donald Trump’s impending ban on transgender people in the armed forces.
The conservative political commentator and The View panellist condemned the Trump policy, which is set to come into effect on April 12 after the US Supreme Court gave the green light for it to come into force pending legal action.
Meghan McCain: Transgender military ban is ‘dangerous’
McCain said in a tweet published on Wednesday (April 10): “It is indefensible that Trump’s ban on Transgender troops is being implemented on Friday.
“This discriminatory policy will lead Transgender service members, patriots who have decided to serve their nation, to live in the shadows.
“It’s an unfair, un-American, and dangerous policy.”
Author Meghan McCain attends the TIME’s 2010 Person of the Year Panel at Time & Life Building on November 10, 2010 in New York, New York. (Neilson Barnard/Getty)
Her comments follow in the footsteps of her late father, Senator John McCain, who passed away in 2018.
The Republican war hero repeatedly spoke out against the transgender ban in his final months in office.
Late Senator John McCain: ‘No reason’ for transgender military ban
In July 2017, when Donald Trump abruptly announced the ban on Twitter, Senator McCain said: “The Department of Defense has already decided to allow currently-serving transgender individuals to stay in the military, and many are serving honourably today.
“Any American who meets current medical and readiness standards should be allowed to continue serving. There is no reason to force service members who are able to fight, train, and deploy to leave the military—regardless of their gender identity.
“We should all be guided by the principle that any American who wants to serve our country is able to meet the standards should have the opportunity to do so – and should be treated as the patriots they are.”
Senator McCain, who chaired the Senate Armed Services Committee, also joined with Democrats in backing a bill to prevent a purge of transgender personnel.
He said: “When less than one percent of Americans are volunteering to join the military, we should welcome all those who are willing and able to serve our country.
“Any member of the military who meets the medical and readiness standards should be allowed to serve—including those who are transgender.”
Meghan McCain previously sat on the board of LGBT+ charity GLAAD, and was honoured by the Harvey Milk Foundation in March for her equal marriage advocacy.
Stuart Milk, nephew of Harvey Milk, explained: “We like to take someone who represents sometimes untraditional communities.
“Meghan is on the opposite side of the political spectrum, but is someone who has been a supporter of marriage equality before anyone else would support it. She understands all of those [LGBT+] issues.”
