(CNSNews.com) - Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Tuesday that she will overturn the ban on transgender people serving in the military on day one of her presidency.
“Just over six months ago, the Trump administration began implementing Trump's shameful ban on transgender service members. When I am president, I will reverse this policy on day one,” Warren tweeted.
Warren explained on her campaign website that “the only thing that should matter when it comes to allowing military personnel to serve is whether or not they can handle the job.”
She expressed her support for allowing people with HIV to serve.
“That’s also true for service members with HIV. Advances in care and treatment have made it possible for individuals living with HIV to serve and deploy, and the Pentagon’s policies should be updated to reflect these advances in medical science,” she said on her website.
“Furthermore,” Warren said, “I will ensure that children born to same-sex couples abroad, when at least one parent is a U.S. citizen, receive the citizenship rights they are entitled to, just as any other child born to a U.S. citizen.
“And I will take all necessary steps to ensure same-sex partners of foreign diplomats can access their full diplomatic rights while in the United States, while at the same time defending our diplomats’ rights to serve with their same-sex partners overseas,” she said.
Warren said that, as president, she will “affirm protections for gender identity and sexual orientation-based asylum claims and ensure that LGBTQ+ asylum seekers are not unnecessarily detained.”
In addition to raising the refugee cap to 125,000 in her first year and at least 175,000 each year after that for her first term, Warren would “significantly reduce immigration detention, where undocumented LGBTQ+ people – and particularly trans women of color – are highly vulnerable.”
The senator also plans to appoint a special envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI Persons and put “the full muscle of the State Department behind protecting human rights for LGBTQ+ people globally.” She also plans to return the U.S. to the UN Human Rights Council and recommit to “the Global Equity Fund to support LGBTQ+ movements in other countries.”
Warren plans to direct the State Department to compile a “LGBTQ+ global threat index to prioritize our programmatic efforts in areas where the threat to LGBTQ+ communities is most severe.” Furthermore, she plans to call on Congress to sanction people “who have committed human rights abuses against LGBTQ+ individuals.” Any country wishing to enter a trade agreement with the U.S. must “uphold internationally recognized human rights, including the rights of LGBTQ+ people.”