AMY GOODMAN: Let me ask you about Trumpās trans policies. President Trump signed this memorandum banning most transgender people from serving in the U.S. military. The new policy, signed just last Friday, comes after Trump announced unexpectedly on Twitter last July he was banning all transgender people from U.S. military service. The White House spokesperson, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, issued a statement on the measure, saying, āthe accession or retention of individuals with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoriaāthose who may require substantial medical treatment, including through medical drugs or surgeryāpresents considerable risk to military effectiveness and lethality. This new policy will enable the military to apply well-established mental and physical health standards ⦠equally to all individuals,ā she said. So, Chelsea Manning, youāve been through this in the military in prison. You were demanding healthcare change for trans prisoners. And now this latest statement from the president?
CHELSEA MANNING: Well, this isnāt about transāthis is about trans people in the military. And the reason why we keep having these orders is, and why they keep coming, you know, whether itās the Muslim ban or anything else, is theyāre trying to make it OK to be hateful to minority groups. Theyāre pickingāyou know, and theyāre picking policy positions to do it, and theyāre picking orders to do it, because it sends a signal, you know, from the highest office in government, that itās OK to hate trans people, itās OK to hate Muslim people, itās OK to hate immigrants, itās OK to hate people. You know, thatās the signal. Thatās the underlying undertones of these kinds of things. Itās not about the policy positions. This has nothing to do with trans people in the military, and everything to do with sending a signal.
And itās the same with the bathroom bills. You know, like, we didnātātrans people, weāve been using bathrooms for decades. We didnāt just come out of nowhere and start using bathrooms. You know, like these so-called debates are a distraction to the underlying message, which is that itās OK to hate people, when itās not.