Cory Booker Promises to End ‘Ridiculous’ Trans Military Ban

Sen. Cory Booker says he would reverse the Trump administration's ban on trans people serving in the military if he were elected president.

Booker, who declared his presidential candidacy in February, was at a campaign event in Iowa on Sunday when he was asked about LGBTQ+ rights, the Associated Press reports. A trans woman in the crowd of about 300 asked the Democratic hopeful what he would do to protect queer and trans Americans if he were to unseat Donald Trump in 2020. Booker, a U.S. Senator from New Jersey since 2013, told her that he would reverse the Trump administration's long-feared ban on trans military service, which goes into effect in April.

"When I am president of the United States, right away I will end this ridiculous, insulting, un-American ban on transgender Americans serving in the military," he said.

The President announced his intention to ban trans people from serving in the military in 2017, a move that would overturn Obama-era policies that have let trans soldiers enlist and serve openly since 2016. A number of court decisions stalled the proposal from becoming policy, but the Supreme Court gave it the go-ahead in January.

Booker is not the only Democratic presidential candidate who opposes the Trump administration's ban on trans people serving in the military -- most, if not all of them, seem to understand that targeting a marginalized group for political capital is not a good look.

Former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke has condemned the trans military ban since day one, as has Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who has said that "there is no justification for this sort of discrimination." Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts has suggested that she'd reverse the ban if she were elected president, tweeting that she would "fight tooth and nail" to make sure trans people could serve, while Senator Kamala Harris of California has explicitly said she would "reverse" it. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said that she won't wait until she gets to the White House, promising to introduce legislation to preserve trans military inclusion.

"I will continue to do everything I can to reverse this hateful policy," Gillibrand said in January.

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