SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Following the American Psychological Association’s statement​ yesterday, expressing alarm over the Trump​ Administration’s “misuse of psychological science to stigmatize transgender Americans and justify limiting their ability to serve in uniform and access medically necessary health care,” the Palm Center today released the following statement by 26 retired General and Flag Officers:

“The Administration’s announcement on the treatment of transgender service members is a troubling move backward. Many of us personally experienced the belated removal of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ and faced firsthand how that mistaken policy set back our force and enabled discrimination against patriotic gay and lesbian Americans. We learned a clear lesson: the singling out of one group of service members for unequal treatment harms military readiness, while inclusion supports it. Under the newly announced policy, most transgender individuals either cannot serve or must serve under a false presumption of unsuitability, despite having already demonstrated that they can and do serve with distinction. They will now serve without the medical care every service member earns, and with the constant fear of being discharged simply for who they are. We should not return to the days of forcing men and women to hide in the shadows and serve their country without institutional support. This deprives the military of trained and skilled service members, which harms readiness and morale. There is simply no reason to single out brave transgender Americans who can meet military standards and deny them the ability to serve.”

Vice Admiral Donald Arthur, USN (Retired)
Vice Admiral Kevin P. Green, USN (Retired)
Lieutenant General Arlen D. Jameson, USAF (Retired)
Lieutenant General Claudia Kennedy, USA (Retired)
Major General Donna Barbisch, USA (Retired)
Major General J. Gary Cooper, USMC (Retired)
Rear Admiral F. Stephen Glass, USN (Retired)
Major General Irv Halter, USAF (Retired)
Rear Admiral Jan Hamby, USN (Retired)
Rear Admiral John Hutson, JAGC, USN (Retired)
Major General Dennis Laich, USA (Retired)
Major General Randy Manner, USA (Retired)
Major General Gale Pollock, CRNA, FACHE, FAAN, USA (Retired)
Major General Peggy Wilmoth, PhD, MSS, RN, FAAN, USA (Retired)
Rear Admiral Dick Young, USN (Retired)
Brigadier General Ricardo Aponte, USAF (Retired)
Rear Admiral Jamie Barnett, USN (Retired)
Brigadier General Julia Cleckley, USA (Retired)
Rear Admiral Jay DeLoach, USN (Retired)
Brigadier General John Douglass, USAF (Retired)
Brigadier General David R. Irvine, USA (Retired)
Brigadier General Carlos E. Martinez, USAF, (Retired)
Brigadier General John M. Schuster USA (Retired)
Rear Admiral Michael E. Smith, USN (Retired)
Brigadier General Paul Gregory Smith, USA (Retired)
Brigadier General Marianne Watson, USA (Retired)