Quigley Statement on DOD Transgender Policy

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05), Vice-Chair of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus, released the following statement in response to Department of Defense (DOD) Secretary Ash Carter issuing two directives to update their policy on transgender individuals in the military:

"I applaud today's announcement by the Department of Defense to take the first steps in updating the military's discriminatory and inconsistent policy in regards to how transgender individuals are treated in our nation's armed forces. These individuals have risked their lives to keep us safe and deserve to serve openly and publically next to their fellow soldiers. I couldn't agree more with Secretary Carter in that the most important qualification for our service members should be whether they're able and willing to do their job, regardless of their gender identity."

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