Gov. Ron DeSantis vowed Tuesday to roll back military policies supportive of transgender individuals and reinstate with back pay any service members forced out for refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19. DeSantis indicated he would return to how the military approached transgender individuals during former President Donald Trump’s time in office. Trump largely prohibited transgender military personnel from serving openly, which had been allowed before he became president. Former President Joe Biden reversed Trump’s transgender military ban, issuing an executive order barring servicemembers from being kicked out because of their gender identity. Under Biden, military personnel also have been given access to medical treatments for gender transition. Panama City resident Emily Gray, a transgender former Air Force member who transitioned after leaving the military, said DeSantis’ plan would harm the military’s mission and potentially ruin people’s lives. Gray said that removing transgender people from the military would deprive the services of committed and experienced personnel. Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried also criticized DeSantis’ plans for the military. She said that DeSantis’s obsession with fabricated culture wars has made him ‘The Boy Who Cried Woke’; even the diehard conservative voters are fed up with this.
