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The GW Hatchet

AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Student organizations condemn Trump’s ban on transgender people in military

Updated: July 26, 2017 at 7:40 p.m.

Two student organizations came out against President Donald Trump’s decision on Wednesday to ban transgender individuals from serving in the U.S. Military.

Students Against Sexual Assault and GW College Democrats released statements condemning Trump’s Twitter announcement to reverse an Obama administration policy allowing openly transgender service members.

In a statement posted to the group’s Facebook page, SASA said the decision would hurt thousands of transgender individuals already serving in the military.

“We owe our safety to them and this decision — announced in a series of tweets — is an indignity and outrage that no American should have to brave,” the organization wrote in the statement.

The College Democrats said in a Twitter post that transgender people serving in the military had shown bravery and deserved support.

“We stand with the thousands of transgender service members who defend our nation every day. Their courage is far greater than a draft dodger,” the group wrote in the Twitter post, referring to Trump, who avoided the draft during the Vietnam War due to a medical condition.

Later, the Democrats posted a longer Facebook statement calling the policy change “discriminatory and wrong.”

“This political decision undermines an important matter: any American who is brave enough to fight for our country should be able to,” the statement read.

GW College Republicans declined a request for comment and have not released a statement.

Trump’s surprise announcement drew outrage from LGBTQ rights groups around the country who called it a major setback for LGBTQ rights.

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