Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) has previously criticized former President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender people with gender dysphoria serving in the United States military as being “wrong.”
In a video posted to X, Walz spoke about how Trump’s policy regarding transgender individuals serving in the U.S. military was not only wrong; it weakened the “national security” of the U.S. Walz added that transgender individuals serving in the military deserved to be treated with “respect,” “dignity,” and “gratitude.”
Vice President Kamala Harris announced on Tuesday that Walz was her pick for vice president.
“Before I was the governor of this great state, I was a high school teacher, a football coach, and served 24 years in uniform in our Army National Guard,” Walz said in the video from 2019. “I taught my students, my players, and those soldiers in my unit, that to marginalize or bully was not only morally wrong, it weakened us as a unit.”
The President's ban on our transgender brothers and sisters in the military is not only wrong, but weakens our national security.
— Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) January 23, 2019
As Commander-in-Chief of @MNNationalGuard, I will do everything in my power to make sure that anyone who is willing and able to serve, can. #mngov pic.twitter.com/hqVLAcUd9j
“I just want to be very clear, that those who served, it did not matter their gender, their race, their religion,” Walz said. “What mattered is that they raised their hand and they were willing to serve this nation to protect each and every one of us and put their lives on the line.”
As Breitbart News has previously reported, the policy enacted under the Trump administration allowed transgender individuals to serve in the U.S. military as their biological gender. Under the policy, new applicants would be unable to serve unless they were stable for 36 months and were also willing to serve as their biological gender.
“The president’s ban on our transgender brothers and sisters is simply not only the wrong thing to do, it weakens our national security,” Walz added. “We need to make sure that those who are willing to serve us are given the respect, and the dignity, and the gratitude that they deserve.”
In January 2021, President Joe Biden issued an executive order reversing Trump’s policy.
As the governor of Minnesota, Walz has signed a bill that allowed minors in the state to go through sex changes.
Walz also signed a bill requiring boys’ bathrooms in Minnesota schools to be stocked with period products.
