AHF & FLUX: Supreme Court Ruling Upholding Trans Military Ban a ‘Shameful Moment in America’

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) and FLUX, an affinity group of AHF and volunteer group raising the profile of the trans and gender-nonconforming communities by leveraging social events and creating safe spaces and innovative advocacy initiatives, sharply criticized the Supreme Court of the United States for its 5 to 4 ruling earlier today upholding the Administration’s ban on transgender individuals in the military. There are currently 15,000 trans individuals in active-duty in the service, making the United States military the largest employer of trans people in the country.

“This decision, coming right after the Martin Luther King Holiday, is especially painful and poignant—a sharp reminder that the fight for civil rights for all of us in the U.S. continues,” said Queen Victoria Ortega, Co-chair of FLUX. “Trans people in the service need our allies. We have served and protected this country honorably: Will this country protect us as well?”

In addition to the 15,000 active-duty trans people, over 150,000 transgender individuals are veterans, making them able to access care at Veterans Affairs Hospitals and facilities across the nation.

“The Supreme Court ruling today is extremely disappointing and shameful for a number of reasons: it perpetuates and codifies into law or regulation stigma and discrimination against trans people and it is also bad medicine for the trans community—including its many military members and veterans—as trans populations in general have some of the highest rates of HIV. In all, this court ruling is a shameful moment in America.”

“Although not all of us want to serve, we must remember those who do and fight for their right to do so,” added FLUX’s Ortega. “Toward that goal, we invite everyone who recognizes the injustice that the Supreme Court did to the trans community today to come out, march with us and support us at the First Annual Transgender March on DC on Sunday, March 31st.”

Keep up to date on FLUX: Instagram: @FLUX_AHF - Twitter: @flux_ahf
Hashtags: #honortranstroops and #transbansucks

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to over one million individuals in 43 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us @aidshealthcare.

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