INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Eric Fanning: Openly Gay Army Secretary May Lift Ban On Transsexual Soldiers

By Aaron Homer
Published on: 03:32 PST, Jun 2, 2016

Eric Fanning, the first openly-gay Secretary of the Army, hinted during a speech Wednesday night that he may lift the ban on transsexual soldiers serving in the Army, Metro Weekly is reporting.

The 47-year-old Fanning, who was just confirmed by the Senate for the post last month, is likely to have a short career as Secretary; he expects he’ll be gone once a new President — be it Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, or possible even dark horse Gary Johnson — is sworn in on January 21, 2017.

However, in that short period of time, Fanning may accomplish what could be a groundbreaking shift in Army policy: lifting the ban on transsexual soldiers.

Fanning has said in the past that he supports lifting the ban on transsexual soldiers serving in the Army, and on Wednesday night, while accepting the Paving the Way Award at the 2016 Capital Pride Heroes Gala, Fanning, without mentioning transsexual soldiers directly, spoke of how repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” has made the military even stronger, and how bringing in a more diverse variety of troops can make it better still.

“Time and time again in the military, as we have opened it up to people who weren’t allowed to serve in the past: African-Americans after World War II; women over many years, not just recently; the end of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’; [and] things haven’t fallen apart, they’ve gotten better… Why wouldn’t we want as many people as possible solving those kind of problems? The more backgrounds we have, the more viewpoints we have, the more experiences we have … the better off we’re going to be. And we’re going to keep getting better, fighting for more people to be included and have rights. … That’s all that this is about, to have the same opportunity to defend the nation we all love.”

Fanning, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, never actually served in the armed forces. Instead, he’s been working his way up the ladder as a Washington bureaucrat since the early 1990s, when on the staff of the House Armed Services Committee. Since that time, he’s served in varying positions throughout Washington, including a brief stint as acting Secretary of the Air Force.

Speaking to NBC News‘ Matt Lauer Wednesday morning, Fanning said that his sexuality has come up as a topic of conversation with each new job he’s gotten.

“I’ve gotten used to the fact that this is going to be a part of any time I get a new job or do something. And when it first happened I was more bothered by it because I didn’t quite have the track record that people know now. And I wanted the focus on qualifications. Now I embrace it. It’s so important to so many people, I realize. And something I didn’t have 25 years ago.”

Besides possibly lifting the ban on transsexual soldiers, Fanning spoke to Lauer of his other goals for the Army. Specifically, he’s concerned about the effects of budget constraints and over a decade of two concurrent wars have had on the military.

“It’s the strain that we’re putting on our soldiers as we continually deploy them and their families. And that’s when I say tired. It’s still a very strong, very lethal Army but we’re running it hard.”

And that fatigue is taking a particularly harsh toll on the Army: the Army has a higher suicide rate than the other branches of the military.

Do you think Eric Fanning should lift the ban on transsexual soldiers serving in the Army?

[Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images]

Share this article: Eric Fanning: Openly Gay Army Secretary May Lift Ban On Transsexual Soldiers
LGBTQ
More from Inquisitr