A variety of religious and liberty groups have called on Congress to reverse the military’s decision to allow transgender service, saying:

This [policy] is an affront to the American people and is certain to undermine readiness, recruitment, and retention in the military. Thus, we urge you to halt the implementation…

The repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell took an act of Congress because the ban on homosexual service was part of US law. (Many forget that DADT was the policy used to avoid enforcing the law banning homosexuals from the US military.) The military could not change its policy without Congress changing the law.

But the ban on transgenderism was more basic. It was simply one of a variety of things the military determined were disqualifying for admission into the military. While many bans still remain, the military unilaterally decided gender issues were no longer a bar to service and reversed the policy, requiring no public debate or congressional oversight.

One of the reasons the groups called for Congress to intervene:

Studies have shown that people who attempt to transition from one gender to the other experience high rates of suicide ideation, depression, and other mental health risks.

Bradley “Chelsea” Manning, anyone?

Further:

Religious freedom and matters of conscience are also a serious concern. The [policy] failed to ensure people of faith would be able to exercise their consciences by diagnosing, counseling, or otherwise affirming a member’s gender identity dysphoria. In fact, the [policy] is silent on the issue of how the freedom to believe is implicated and undermined by the [policy].

The groups called on Congress to use the NDAA to reverse the military’s decision. Given how far along the NDAA process is, it seems unlikely at this point that such a write-in will occur.

Ironically, while the decision to allow gender-confused individuals to serve in the military has been lauded as a major event by neo-sexual advocates, it actually benefits very few people.  To wit, some complained this policy change would elevate DoD medical costs in a fiscally-constrained environment.  It turns out a DoD-commissioned study by RAND found the opposite. Why? There are very few transgenders in the military.

RAND estimated transgendered individuals comprised approximately 0.3% of the US military, or less than 3,000 people in a population of 1.3 million.

In other words, the massive social upheaval within the culture and within the military — everything from bathroom bills to mixed-genitalia shower policies — has been for the benefit of an extraordinarily small group of people, and at the expense of a very large group of people.

That hardly engages a ‘vast recruiting pool,’ as some have implied, and it endangers a very substantial recruiting pool.

How can that possibly make sense?

The letter (PDF) was signed by, among others:

• LTG (Ret.) William Boykin, US Army, Family Research Council
• CH (COL) Ronald A. Crews, USAR, Ret, Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty
• Tim Wildmon, American Family Association
• Gary McCaleb, Alliance Defending Freedom
• Mathew D. Staver, Liberty Counsel
• Arthur Schultz, Sr., International Conference of Evangelical Chaplain Endorsers
• Elaine Donnelly, Center for Military Readiness
• Richard Thompson, Thomas More Law Center
• William J. Becker, Jr., Freedom X

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