skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Trump Transgender Ban Sparks Protest

play audio
Play

Thursday, July 27, 2017   

NEW YORK – New Yorkers took to the streets Wednesday to protest President Trump's announcement that transgender people will not be allowed to serve in the U.S. military.

Civil liberties organizations were quick to condemn the policy shift outlined in three early-morning posts to the president's Twitter account.

Equality New York, an LGBT rights group, quickly organized a protest rally outside the Times Square military recruiting station where Gabriel Blau, co-chair of the group, said they would deliver a clear message to the president.

"These are our loved ones, our neighbors, our friends, ourselves," Blau says. "And those who choose to serve our country and put their lives at risk in the military deserve to be respected and deserve to be seen."

The president claimed in his tweets that the military "cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption" that transgender service members would entail.

But Blau points out that transgender people already are serving without disruption in the military, and the medical costs are not a burden.

"RAND Corporation did a study on this and showed the costs of providing trans-specific health care in the military is negligible," Blau notes. "So both of Trump's reasons are proven to be false."

While many conservatives have praised Trump's announcement, Republican Sen. John McCain has condemned it, saying anyone who is fit to serve should be allowed to do so.

Trump's decision reportedly caught the Pentagon by surprise. While a tweet may express an opinion, it is not an executive order, so how this policy reversal will be carried out is still in question. But Blau is certain it will meet with resistance.

"We all found out about this today," adds Blau. "I can't speak to any cases that may or may not be planned but I'm sure that our community will be challenging this in court."

The American Civil Liberties Union's LGBT and HIV Project says it is examining all its options for fighting the ban.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Iowa families can apply for up to $7,600 a year for private school costs. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An ethics committee in the Republican-led Iowa House has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of community activists against a state lawmaker for hi…


play sound

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors have to figure out if they can afford to go to college in the fall - and two new …

Health and Wellness

play sound

A health care workforce shortage in New Hampshire is leaving Alzheimer's patients and their families with few options for treatment. Patients facing …


South Dakota ranks 49th in the country for its contribution to indigent legal defense costs, according to a 2023 report from the Indigent Legal Services Task Force. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

South Dakota is creating an Office of Indigent Legal Services after House Bill 1057 passed the Legislature with nearly unanimous support this month…

Environment

play sound

A Knoxville-based environmental group is voicing concerns over what it sees as an increasing financial strain imposed on taxpayers by nuclear weapons …

Environment

play sound

A bipartisan law set to take effect this summer prohibits foreign adversaries from buying Hoosier farmland. The signature of Gov. Eric Holcomb was …

Social Issues

play sound

Today, people across Arizona are voting in the Presidential Preference Election, a chance for registered Democrats and Republicans to choose their …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021