skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Sunday, May 5, 2024

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

Jury hears Trump and Cohen Discussing Hush-Money Deal on secret recording; Nature-based solutions help solve Mississippi River Delta problems; Public lands groups cheer the expansion of two CA national monuments; 'Art Against the Odds' shines a light on artists in the WI justice system.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

President Biden defends dissent but says "order must prevail" on campus, former President Trump won't commit to accepting the 2024 election results and Nebraska lawmakers circumvent a ballot measure repealing private school vouchers.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Bidding begins soon for Wyoming's elk antlers, Southeastern states gained population in the past year, small rural energy projects are losing out to bigger proposals, and a rural arts cooperative is filling the gap for schools in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Congressional Hearing Today On Transgender in U.S. Military

play audio
Play

Wednesday, February 27, 2019   

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Military experts and LGBTQ leaders will speak today at a hearing of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel about the service of transgender people in the military.

President Donald Trump announced a ban on transgender military personnel in 2017, and last month the U.S. Supreme Court allowed that ban to go into effect while the matter is litigated. According to the National Center for Transgender Equality, 15,000 transgender people currently serve in the military, and there are 134,000 transgender veterans.

Lt. Cmdr. Blake Dremann, a transgender woman and Navy supply chain officer, said the military should not reject the talents of many highly decorated people.

"Good leaders take a team and make it work. Great leaders mold their teams to exceed expectations," she said, "because it doesn't matter if you're female or LGBT. What matters is if each member is capable and focused on the mission."

The administration has claimed that allowing transgender people to serve decreases military readiness and increases health-care costs. However, studies have shown that readiness is unaffected and that the military spends much more money on Viagra than it does on gender-reassignment surgery.

More than three years ago, the Obama administration declared that transgender people could serve openly in the military. Former Defense Secretary James Mattis made an exception to the ban for those who already were serving openly or were willing to serve under their biological sex at birth.

Capt. Alivia Stehlik, a U.S. Army physical therapist and a transgender woman, said she found the vast majority of men and women in her brigade to be open and accepting.

"During my deployment to Afghanistan, as a trans woman, soldiers opened up to me, and I asked them why," she said. "And consistently, they answered that they valued my authenticity and my courage in being myself."

The litigation on the transgender ban is expected to take several years to resolve, and eventually could end up back before the U.S. Supreme Court.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument's new Molok Loyuk region provides habitat for tule elk, mountain lions, bears, bald eagles and golden eagles. (Hispanic Access Foundation)

Environment

play sound

Conservation groups, tribes and community organizers are praising President Joe Biden's decision Thursday to expand two national monuments in …


Social Issues

play sound

Pennsylvania is among the states where massive protests and tent encampments opposing the war in Gaza are growing. Elez Beresin-Scher, a sociology …

Health and Wellness

play sound

Studies show suicide is a serious public health problem, claiming more than 48,000 lives each year in the nation. A new initiative from the Zero …


An installation view of the exhibition Art Against the Odds, is shown at the Neville Public Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo courtesy of Kate Mothes)

Social Issues

play sound

By Kate Mothes for Arts Midwest.Broadcast version by Mike Moen for Wisconsin News Connection reporting for the Arts Midwest-Public News Service Collab…

Environment

play sound

A new film documents the 2018 battle between Colorado environmentalists and the oil and gas industry over proposed fracking regulations. The film …

Among adults in Arkansas, 32.6% report symptoms of anxiety and/or depressive disorder, almost identical to the national average. (Halfpoint/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

As Children's Mental Health Awareness Week kicks off in Arkansas, an expert said parents can help their children have a healthy brain to thrive…

Environment

play sound

As part of an effort to restore the Mississippi River delta, an organization is collaborating with nature to address environmental challenges…

Health and Wellness

play sound

Toughing it out during spring allergy season is not in your best interest if you want to avoid asthma later in life. New Mexico has plenty of grass …

 

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