Appointment for readiness in Pentagon hailed as major win for LGBTQ+ community

Shawn Skelly’s appointment as the assistant secretary of defense for readiness in the Pentagon is a groundbreaking achievement that has been hailed as a major win for the LGBTQ+ community.

This former Navy commander is not just another face in the crowd – she has a unique story that makes her ascent to this position all the more remarkable. Skelly was forced to retire from military service due to the discriminatory “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which prohibited openly LGBTQ+ individuals from serving in the armed forces. Now, she has returned to the military world as the highest-ranking openly transgender official in the Department of Defense (DoD) blazing a trail for others to follow.

As the overseer of military preparedness for warfighting, Skelly’s work is crucial to ensuring the safety and effectiveness of our military forces. She is responsible for managing training programs, equipment safety, and munitions supplies, and her expertise and dedication will undoubtedly have a profound impact on the future of the U.S. military.

Recently, Republican lawmakers have been attempting to roll back the changes that allowed transgender people to serve in the military through proposed legislation to ban them. Some Republican lawmakers argue that personnel policies like diversity trainings, racial justice education, and events like drag shows on military bases alienate some potential recruits and distract from the military’s main mission of fighting wars and protecting the homefront.

However, Skelly argues that rolling back these programs will hurt not only Americans who identify as LGBTQ but also the military’s ability to do its job. She explains that when a team is in crisis, the trust between team members is what makes or breaks the mission, and “ostracizing anybody” makes that more difficult. Skelly also notes that ostracizing transgender individuals would hurt the military’s ability to recruit potential recruits from this population, which is rapidly growing.

The Biden administration overturned the Trump-era ban on transgender people serving in the military, citing a 2016 DoD study that found that allowing transgender Americans to serve openly would have a minimal impact on readiness and healthcare costs. Additionally, “open transgender service has had no significant impact on operational effectiveness or unit cohesion in foreign militaries,” according to the study. Advocates argue that with the military facing its worst recruiting crisis in decades, it should not exclude a growing population of potential recruits.

Opponents say that continuing the policy puts a group of people with elevated risk for mental health problems in a stressful environment and signals to America’s adversaries that it is “more concerned with political correctness” than warfighting.

Skelly calls the Trump administration a dark time in her life, as she was trying to find a new full-time job outside of the administration when Trump announced his ban. Skelly believes that the policy is hurting military readiness and that the Department of Defense’s diversity initiatives are essential for the military’s success.

Skelly is not the only transgender individual to work for the Department of Defense. Rachel Levine serves as assistant secretary of health and is the first openly transgender official to hold an office that requires Senate confirmation. The appointments of Skelly and Levine are welcomed as powerful signals of support by transgender troops now serving openly and is a significant moment for transgender rights in the military.