Protect the LGBTQ Community from Discrimination
The important lesson that we can learn from the failure to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act is that every voice counts. Now it is time to speak out on behalf of the LGBTQ community, which is under assault.
First, the President tweeted, ‘please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military,’ citing ‘tremendous medical costs.’ ( This ban is not about medical costs. See below.*) Next, the Justice Department inserted itself into a private law suit between a worker and his boss over gay rights issues by filing a friend-of-the-court brief asserting that the 1964 Civil Rights Acts does not protect employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation.
As Reform Jews, we will not stand silently by while the government attempts to undermine lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights won under previous administrations. Click on this link to urge your members of Congress to support federal legislation that will explicitly protect LGBTQ people from discrimination.
Link: http://action.rac.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=22495
To put a different spin on Martin Niemöller’s famous call to action to action:
First they limited Muslim immigration. We spoke out because we are Jews.
Then they constructed a wall to keep out Mexicans. We spoke out because we are Jews.
Then they banned transgender people from serving in any capacity in the military. We spoke out because we are Jews.
Then they filed a brief in federal court stating civil rights laws do not bar discrimination against gay workers. We spoke out because we are Jews.
*“President Trump’s assertion that permitting transgender people in the armed services entails major health care costs appears to be overblown, based on estimates from the think tank RAND, which was asked by the Department of Defense to study the issue last year. Health care costs for treating active members who want to transition to another gender would increase by between $2.4 million to $8.4 million annually, RAND found. That translates to 0.04 percent to 0.13 percent of the agency’s annual spending on health care. . . . ‘Our study found that the number of U.S. transgender service members who are likely to seek transition-related care is so small that a change in policy will likely have a marginal impact on health care costs and the readiness of the force,’ the Rand researchers wrote. Even if the military spent at the top end of the estimated range for health care on transgender service members — $8.4 million per year — it would reportedly represent a fraction of what it spends on Viagra. The Department of Defense spent $41.6 million in 2014 on the erectile-dysfunction drug, or about five times what transgender service members would cost, according to an estimate from the Military Times.” (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-transgender-ban-service-members-costs/)
