Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media Tip Sheets
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media Tip Sheets

Reversal of Transgender Military Ban Is an Important Moment

Thursday, January 28, 2021, By Daryl Lovell
Share
american politicsLGBTQMilitary

This month, Pres. Biden repealed a Trump-era ban on transgender people serving in the U.S. military. “It is my conviction as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces that gender identity should not be a bar to military service,” read a portion of the executive order.

William Robert is the director of LGBTQ Studies and an associate professor of religion at Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences. He provides a written perspective about how the ban was basic discrimination, and what this move by President Biden reaffirms for all Americans, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.

Prof. Robert says:

“Arguments against allowing transgender persons to serve in the military aren’t new. They’re straight out of discrimination 101. Anti-progressives have dusted them off and trotted them out many times, to try to ban men of color, then women, then LGB persons from military service.

“It’s reassuring to see that, once again, these arguments have failed. Because these arguments are really about who gets to count as a citizen, and whose lives count enough to be lost in military service. There probably hasn’t been, in the last few decades, a more important moment to reaffirm that American citizenship is a capacious category, one more interested in welcoming folks in than in keeping folks out.”

 

To request interviews or get more information:

Daryl Lovell
Media Relations Manager
Division of Marketing and Communications

M 315.380.0206
dalovell@syr.edu | @DarylLovell

The Nancy Cantor Warehouse, 350 W. Fayette St., 2nd Fl., Syracuse, NY 13202
news.syr.edu | syracuse.edu

Syracuse University

  • Author

Daryl Lovell

  • Recent
  • Turning Gratitude Into Opportunity
    Friday, March 5, 2021, By Dan Bernardi
  • University Selected to Host Hult Prize Regional Competition
    Friday, March 5, 2021, By Cristina Hatem
  • Message From Chancellor Kent Syverud
    Thursday, March 4, 2021, By News Staff
  • Final Report of the Board Special Committee on University Climate, Diversity and Inclusion
    Thursday, March 4, 2021, By News Staff
  • Burton Blatt Institute Hosts Poetry Reading
    Thursday, March 4, 2021, By News Staff

More In Media Tip Sheets

Amazon Union Efforts Part of Bigger Conversation of Racial, Economic Reckoning Facing US

Nearly 6,000 workers at an Amazon fulfillment center in Bessemer, AL are voting this month on whether they want to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. It could be the first Amazon warehouse union in the country. Lynne…

Texas Power Grids, Extreme Weather and Changing Climate

The recent winter storm that led to massive power outages in several states including Texas, Mississippi and Kentucky has raised lots of questions with climate scientists and researchers who study electricity infrastructure. Is this linked to global warming, what may…

Poetry and the Super Bowl: two moments that need the other

This Sunday, Amanda Gorman will be the first poet to read an original work before the Super Bowl. Gorman, the youth poet laureate who recited her poem “The Hill We Climb” at the presidential inauguration last month, will be sharing…

Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied

The news media are powerful players in the world of government transparency and public accountability. One important tool for ensuring public accountability is through invoking transparency mandates provided by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). In 2020, news organizations and…

The State of the Immigration Courts

Immigrant rights activists energized by a new Democratic administration and majorities on Capitol Hill are gearing up for a fresh political battle. A coalition of national advocacy groups announced a new campaign to help push through President Biden’s plan to open…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Facebook
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Youtube
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2021 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.