A.G. Gancarski
Of all of the politicians in Northeast Florida, Jacksonville City Council VP Aaron Bowman may be best positioned to talk about President Donald Trump‘s Tweets proposing a ban on military service for transgender people.
Bowman, former Commander of Naval Station Mayport, drew on his military experience when guiding expansion of the Human Rights Ordinance through Council, saying that military service and leadership made commitment to non-discrimination “part of [his] fabric.”
“Discrimination happens in many forms,” said Bowman in 2015, and “it’s often easy to hide behind the guise of something else.”
Many of those who saw President Trump’s Tweets communicating a major policy change saw them as manifestations of discrimination. Bowman has been consistent in his position that the military, as an “all-volunteer service,” should be free of discrimination — as the city of Jacksonville is — on any grounds, including that of gender identity.
If “somebody is willing to die for their country” in military service, Bowman asks “why should it matter” if that person is transgender or not.
Bowman also took issue with President Trump communicating a seismic policy change via Twitter, saying that conveyed “ambiguity” in the execution of policy, leaving “unanswered questions … more questions than answers.”
Indeed, at Wednesday’s White House press briefing, Sarah Huckabee Sanders nearly wrapped early, recoiling from questions about what the policy change means. And, later on Wednesday, Florida Gov. Rick Scott likewise floundered when asked about the latest pronouncement from his “partner in the White House.”
Bowman also suggested that “fissures” may exist in the Pentagon regarding the appropriateness of this policy change.
Those fissures were demonstrated via a memo from General Joseph Dunford, a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which asserted there would be “no modifications to the current policy until the President’s direction has been received by the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary has issued implementation guidelines.”
And those fissures may be broadened given the logistical issues created by such a ban for enlisted men and women and those who lead them.
“If someone’s in need of treatment,” Bowman said, “where does this leave them?”
Medical issues — and issues of benefits in general — will have to be worked out in the wake of the policy change announcement, not before. This will create challenges for those charged with formulating policy in the wake of Trump’s Tweetstorm.
“If I’m a leader right now with a transgender person in my unit,” said Bowman, a former commander of Naval Station Mayport, “I don’t know what to do.”
“It’s a wait and see game,” Bowman added.
