March 8, 2019 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Phil Wright at pwright@chaplainalliance.org or (612) 250-2072, or Craig Muehler at (314) 996-1346

Chaplains continue support for Commander in Chief’s military policy on transgendered personnel

WASHINGTON— The following quote may be attributed to Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty Executive Director Chaplain (COL) Phil Wright, USA retired, regarding a Maryland federal judge’s ruling allowing the Trump Administrations’s current military policy on transgendered personnel to continue. The policy is based on the lack of medical readiness exhibited by those who have gender dysphoria and have began a transition protocol:

“Chaplain Alliance continues to support this Administration’s military readiness policy. We do not question the courage, motivation, or patriotism of transgendered service personnel. However, “gender dysphoria” continues to be listed in the DSM-5 as a mental disorder, and medical transition prevents service members from being qualified to serve, much less be deployed. The military often requires service in austere environments with little emotional, medical, or mental support for what service members with gender dysphoria are facing. Transgender men and women, like many other patriotic Americans, face a medical condition they cannot control—a condition that, unfortunately, disqualifies them from military service. As a federal appeals court affirmed earlier this year, the recommendations made by a panel of military and medical experts rely upon the ‘considered professional judgment’ of ‘appropriate military officials’ and should be taken seriously.”

Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty is an organization of chaplain endorsers, the religious faith groups that provide chaplains for the U.S. military, and other agencies needing chaplains. The endorsers in the Chaplain Alliance collectively endorse more than two-thirds of the 5,500 military chaplains serving in the Armed Forces.

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