Report: ‘Within Days of the Meeting, Mr. Trump Took Action, Announcing His Transgender Military Ban’
On July 11 Family Research Council president Tony Perkins asked President Donald Trump to ban transgender service members from the U.S. military. Just 15 days later, on July 26, the president took to Twitter to announce he was instituting a total ban on all transgender military service members
A Sunday New York Times article detailing how the religious right has gained extraordinary access to and influence over the Trump administration refers to a six-hour meeting in July between the Christian conservatives and the White House.
At that meeting, “Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, a conservative religious lobbying group, broached the topic of banning transgender people from the military,” reports the Times, citing an account from the Trump administration’s religious advisor, Johnnie Moore.
“Some Republican members of Congress had been pushing for a similar prohibition, pointing to the medical costs of supporting transgender people. Again, within days of the meeting, Mr. Trump took action, announcing his transgender military ban.”
That meeting (photo above), as NCRM reported at the time, was held July 11. it concluded with an Oval Office group prayer, with the conservative faith leaders laying their hands on the President. Here’s a photo of that event in the Oval Office, which Moore posted to Twitter:
Pat Robertson’s CBN religious news network posted a list of the attendees, which looks like a who’s who of the anti-gay Christian right.
Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council (FRC); Pastor John Hagee, founder and senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio; Paula White, senior pastor of New Destiny Christian Center in Apopka, Florida; former Congresswoman Michele Bachmann; Ralph Reed, chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition; Gary Bauer, president of American Values; Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas; Jim Garlow, senior pastor of Skyline Church in La Mesa, California; Rodney Howard-Browne, senior pastor at the River at Tampa Bay Church, Mike Evans, the founder of Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem, and Richard Land, president of the Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte and others.
President Trump had told the American people in his tweets that he had consulted with his generals before making the decision but that claim has been debunked. The Pentagon, according to multiple reports, is not happy about the ban and was not consulted or informed prior to the announcement. If implemented, Trump’s possibly unconstitutional ban could lead to the eviction of up to 15,000 transgender troops.
As with his Muslim travel ban, several civil rights groups are suing the Trump administration in federal court in an attempt to block it.
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Image via Rodney & Adonica Howard-Browne/Facebook
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