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.

LGBTQ+ Groups Celebrate Reversal of Transgender Ban in the Military

play audio
Play

Tuesday, January 26, 2021   

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- LGBTQ+ groups are celebrating President Joe Biden's executive order reversing a Trump-era ban on transgender people in the military.

The ban took effect in April 2019 and also prevented transgender people from enlisting, joining the Reserve Officers' Training Corps or attending military academies.

Rick Chavez Zbur, executive director of Equality California, which sued to stop the ban, said the policy hurt individuals and the nation as a whole.

"It was also harmful to the country because it deprives our country of talent and really harms military readiness," Zbur maintained.

Former President Donald Trump imposed the ban in July 2017 but it was tied up in litigation for two years until the Supreme Court allowed it to take effect. Trump argued the military should not have to pay for people to go through the transition.

Samuel Garrett-Pate, communications director for Equality California, noted a 2016 study by the Rand Corporation found the costs of allowing transgender people to serve are negligible.

"It's really sort of a red herring," Garrett-Pate asserted. "The military covers the cost of health care for service members. Period. Full stop. And transgender people shouldn't be denied care any more than any other service member."

A UCLA study estimated more than 15,000 transgender people were on active duty as of 2014. The order also requires the Department of Defense to correct the record of anyone dismissed for their gender identity.

Disclosure: Equality California contributes to our fund for reporting on Census, Health Issues, HIV/AIDS Prevention, LGBTQIA Issues. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


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