FRC'S Boykin: Lifting Transgender Ban a Bad Idea

Defense Secretary Ash Carter has ordered a six-month study that will look at formally ending the ban on transgender people serving in the military.

Carter said the Pentagon ban is "outdated" and the review would determine if lifting the ban would have any impact on the military's ability to be ready for battle.

The defense secretary is creating a working group to study the proposal and it will begin with the presumption that transgender people should be able to serve.

Former Navy Pilot Brynn Tannehill, who left the service before transitioning to another gender, said the ban made his life "stressful."

"[Being transgender] was something that I couldn't talk with anyone about because if you even breathed a word of it, you didn't know what was going to happen and you could lose your career that I worked so hard for," he said.

Key concerns about lifting the ban include the following:

• Whether the military would pay for sex change surgeries.
• Where transgender troops would be housed.
• What uniforms they would wear.
• Which bathrooms they would use.
• And whether their presence would affect the ability of small units to work well together.

Retired Army Gen. Jerry Boykin, executive vice president of the Family Research Council, panned the move.

"Considering the abysmal condition of our military and a decline in readiness, why is this a top priority for the Obama administration?" he asked.

"The Pentagon must answer whether this proposed policy makes our military more capable of performing its mission. The answer is a very clear and resounding 'no,'" he said.

The announcement comes after reports of already very low morale in the military and the exodus of many Christian servicemen and women who now see the military as hostile to their faith.