Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush told Yahoo News that he supports the Obama administration’s move to allow transgender individuals to openly serve in the U.S. military.
Bush reportedly said he was “fine” with transgender persons openly wearing the uniform as long as the Pentagon determines that doing so would not undermine U.S. troop morale.
“If you can accommodate people who are transgendered and deal with making sure the military’s comfortable with this and making sure that the overriding principle ought to be how do we create the highest morale for the greatest fighting force the world has ever seen… and if you can accommodate those two concerns, then fine,” he told Yahoo News.
Earlier this week, Obama’s Department of Defense (DoD) issued two directives, bringing the Pentagon closer to rescinding its ban on open service by transgender people.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter ordered a 6-month review to examine the implications that allowing transgenders to serve openly in the military would have on policy and military readiness.
Carter said the transgender DoD ban is “outdated.”
Jeb’s comments echoed remarks Carter made shortly after taking office, saying he was “very open-minded” about transgender people serving in the military as long as they can carry out their duties.
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