Study Finds Majority of Cis Service Members Support Transgender Military Service

A study from UCLA funded by the Department of Defense found that a majority of cisgender military service members support the participation of transgender individuals in the military.

The study, which analyzed data from 486 cisgender active duty service members, found that 66 percent of them supported allowing transgender people to serve, effectively opposing President Donald Trump’s transgender military ban.

“Results suggest that the ban, in part, based on a belief that transgender service members degrade unit readiness, contradicts our findings of broad support for transgender service among active duty service members,” the study’s abstract reads. “Policies limiting transgender service in the U.S. military should be lifted given these data.”

Support for trans service members was higher among Black and Latinx participants (69 and 75 percent, respectively) than white (64 percent) and LGB participants (82 percent) than straight (57 percent).

“That speaks to the importance of diversity in the armed forces, and there have been some concerted efforts to increase representation in the military,” study author Dr. Ian Holloway told Gay City News.

The study was commissioned by the Obama administration, which paid $1.8 million to validate the now-revoked decision to allow transgender troops.

These results align with the opinions of the general population; according to a 2019 Gallup poll, 71 percent of Americans support allowing trans people to serve in the military.