トランプ氏、「トランスジェンダーのイデオロギー」を軍から排除へ

【マイアミＡＦＰ＝時事】ドナルド・トランプ米大統領は２７日、米軍から「トランスジェンダーのイデオロギー」を排除する大統領令に署名すると表明した。施策として実施されれば、ＬＧＢＴＱ（性的少数者）の権利が大きく後退する可能性がある。（写真は、米大統領専用機「エアフォースワン」の機内で、記者団と話すドナルド・トランプ大統領）
　トランプ氏はフロリダ州マイアミで開かれた共和党下院議員との会合で、「世界で最も殺傷能力の高い部隊にするため、米軍からトランスジェンダーのイデオロギーをとっとと追い出してやる」と主張。軍関係の「４件の新たな大統領令」の一つに加える意向を示した。
　米軍におけるトランスジェンダーの人々に関する処遇は近年、目まぐるしく変化してきた。
　民主党のバラク・オバマ政権は２０１６年、入隊済みの兵士がトランスジェンダーであることを公言しても除隊処分を受けない措置を導入。２０１７年７月１日からは新規入隊も認められることになっていたが、同年１月に発足した１期目のトランプ政権が２０１８年に延期し、最終的に入隊を禁止した。
　その後、民主党のジョー・バイデン氏は２０２１年に大統領に就任した数日後にトランプ氏の大統領令を再び覆し、軍務に就く資格のあるすべての米国民の入隊が認められるべきだと主張。オバマ政権時代の政策を復活させる大統領令に署名した。
　だがトランプ氏は昨年、自身が再選を果たした場合、「トランスジェンダーを軍から排除する」と公約し、その他の権利も認めない考えを示していた。
　米軍でトランスジェンダーであることを公表している兵士の数は比較的少なく、総人員２００万人以上のうち約１万５０００人とされる。
　しかし、トランスジェンダーの人々を解雇すれば、ただでさえ新兵獲得に苦労している米軍は、兵力縮小を余儀なくされることになる。
　バイデン政権で国防長官を務めたロイド・オースティン氏は今月退任する際、「入隊を希望する有能な愛国者を拒絶する軍は縮小し、弱くなるだけだ」と皮肉った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2025/01/28-17:04）

US President Donald Trump said Monday he had signed an executive order ridding the military of what he called transgender ideology, in a potentially major setback for LGBTQ rights.
In a series of orders related to the military that Trump told reporters he had signed on Air Force One, he also called for the building of a US version of Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system.
The Republican signed further orders reinstating service members dismissed for refusing to take the Covid vaccine, and extending a wider government crackdown on diversity programs to the armed forces.
To ensure that we have the most lethal fighting force in the world, we will get transgender ideology the hell out of our military, Trump told a Republican congressional retreat earlier in Miami.
Trump has previously promised to bring back a ban on transgender troops and demonized any recognition of gender diversity.
In his order, Trump claimed the armed forces have been afflicted with radical gender ideology to appease activists and that many mental and physical health conditions are incompatible with active duty.
The order said adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual's sex conflicts with a soldier's commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one's personal life.
A man's assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honor this falsehood, is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member, it added.
The orders came at the start of Trump's second week back in the White House and on the day a welcome ceremony was held at the Pentagon for his new defense secretary, military veteran and Fox News personality Pete Hegseth.
Thank you for your leadership Mr. President. We will execute! Hegseth -- who was confirmed last week despite concerns over his inexperience, and alleged record of heavy drinking and domestic violence -- said on X.
Transgender Americans have faced a roller coaster of changing policies on military service in recent years, with Democratic administrations seeking to permit them to serve openly while Trump has repeatedly sought to keep them out of the ranks.
The US military lifted a ban on transgender troops serving in the armed forces in 2016, during Democrat Barack Obama's second term as president.
Under that policy, trans troops already serving were permitted to do so openly, and transgender recruits were set to start being accepted by July 1, 2017.
- 'Patriots' -
But the first Trump administration postponed that date to 2018 before deciding to reverse the policy entirely, sparking criticism from rights groups.
Trump's Democratic successor Joe Biden moved to reverse the restrictions just days after he took office in 2021, saying all Americans qualified to serve should be able to do so.
While the number of transgender troops in the US military is fairly small -- with estimates of around 15,000 out of more than two million uniformed service members -- their dismissal would reduce US forces at a time when the country is already facing difficulties recruiting new personnel.
Biden's defense secretary Lloyd Austin appeared to criticize Trump's plans during a farewell address earlier this month, saying: Any military that turns away qualified patriots who are eager to serve is just making itself smaller and weaker.
Transgender issues have roiled US politics in recent years, as states controlled by Democrats and Republicans have moved in opposite directions on policies ranging from medical treatment to what books on the topic are allowed in public or school libraries.
Trump has meanwhile repeatedly promised to build a version of the Iron Dome system that Israel has used to shoot down missiles fired by Hamas from Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
But he ignored the fact that the system is designed for short-range threats, making it ill-suited to defending against intercontinental missiles that are the main danger to the United States.
We need to immediately begin the construction of a state-of-the-art Iron Dome missile defense shield, Trump said in Miami, adding that it would be made right here in the USA.