{"id":52545,"date":"2017-04-26T12:00:38","date_gmt":"2017-04-26T16:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/after-glaad-exposes-his-anti-lgbtq-history-trump-nominee-mark-green-comes-out-for-lgbtq-equality-in-the-u-s-army\/"},"modified":"2017-04-26T12:00:38","modified_gmt":"2017-04-26T16:00:38","slug":"after-glaad-exposes-his-anti-lgbtq-history-trump-nominee-mark-green-comes-out-for-lgbtq-equality-in-the-u-s-army","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/after-glaad-exposes-his-anti-lgbtq-history-trump-nominee-mark-green-comes-out-for-lgbtq-equality-in-the-u-s-army\/","title":{"rendered":"After GLAAD exposes his anti-LGBTQ history, Trump Nominee Mark Green comes out for LGBTQ equality in the U.S. Army"},"content":{"rendered":"

After GLAAD exposes his anti-LGBTQ history, Trump Nominee Mark Green comes out for LGBTQ equality in the U.S. Army<\/b><\/p>\n

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Yesterday Mark Green, Donald Trump\u2019s nominee for Secretary of the Army, took to Facebook<\/a> to address the anti-transgender statements<\/a> he made in a radio interview last year. In fact, Mark Green\u2019s response was an about-face statement as he voiced his support for LGBTQ equality in the U.S. Army.<\/p>\n

\u201c4) I believe that every American has a right to defend their country regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and religion. It’s the radical left that won’t allow the latter,\u201d Mark Green said on his Facebook<\/a> page. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Green\u2019s statement comes a week after\u00a0GLAAD uncovered an unedited audio interview between the state senator and \u201cThe Hotwash with CJ and Alex\u201d on June 3, 2016 and shared it on twitter<\/a> and with Huffington Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“GLAAD unearthed and shared the full, unedited audio interview in which Mark Green called transgender Americans an ‘evil’ that must be ‘crushed,\u2019\u201d said Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD<\/strong>. \u201cWhile this change of heart is a step in the right direction, Green’s\u00a0anti-LGBTQ history still makes him unfit to be the next Army Secretary, and\u00a0he has shown that he often forgets what he says.”<\/p>\n

Mark Green\u2019s original comments can be found below.<\/p>\n

This audio, in fact, follows what is a long anti-LGBTQ history by the state senator. Mark Green has\u00a0insisted<\/a>\u00a0that being \u201ctransgender is a disease,\u201d was the\u00a0lead sponsor<\/a>\u00a0of a Tennessee bill that would give companies license to discrimination against the LGBTQ community, and\u00a0backed<\/a>\u00a0another Tennessee bill that would allow therapists to refuse service to LGBTQ clients.<\/p>\n

Green’s new comments voicing support for LGBTQ equality in the army and open transgender military service are welcomed, but in case he forgets this Facebook post (because he seemed to forget this radio interview), GLAAD will be watching what happens next, alongside LGBTQ service members who have and are serving our country honorable and deserve leaders who support them.<\/p>\n

BACKGROUND: Full Transcript of Mark Green\u2019s Anti-LGBTQ Comments<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

HOST: “I usually do not touch on the subject of religion on the radio show very often. I believe that you know–you know how my religious faith is and my background. But I can definitely say that there are a lot of people up in arms, both on the religious side and the– you know, unreligious side about the transgendered bathroom issue<\/strong>. And, a lot of people, you know the die hard Christians want to say ‘oh, you are not being Christ-like if we turn them away.’ And–and I, before I clear you on a run like I know you are getting ready to cut loose on with this issue.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

GREEN: [laughs]<\/strong><\/p>\n

HOST: “I have, I have debated this issue with several people. I have debated it with, you know, strong Christians, people who are somewhat think they are Christian or who, you know have some religion in their life, people who are atheists. I have debated it with homosexuals, you know, from the gay<\/a> community to the lesbian<\/a> community. And, my core issue with this is issue is just anybody can go into a bathroom and say associate with being a woman<\/a> or they felt like they should have been a woman<\/a>. And any pervert or predator can waltz right into the bathroom and they are in there with my wife, my daughter, my sister, my mother, and this has been forced down our kid’s throats in school. So that’s–that’s why I have a huge problem with it.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

GREEN:<\/strong>\u00a0“There\u2019s two reasons to have a big problem with it. One is simply the states\u2019 rights issue. There\u2019s no place in the US Constitution that says that the federal government can\u2019t impose on the state of Tennessee and tell us how we are to use our bathrooms. Even in our school systems. The only mention of education in the US Constitution is that it\u2019s a local thing. This notion that the federal government can come in and the state of Tennessee how to do that is just absolutely unconstitutional. It\u2019s a massive overstep of the federal government. Quite frankly, we got to start standing up to this. The states have just been walked all over.<\/p>\n

The other side of the issue is that there are 300,000 rapes in the United States every year. 300,000 women<\/a> who are sexually assaulted by predators. We know this. It\u2019s documented. It\u2019s factual. To think that some young guy<\/a> isn\u2019t going to take advantage of the system where we\u2019re going to allow guys<\/a> to go into the bathroom \u2013 the women<\/a>\u2019s bathroom \u2013 to think that it\u2019s not going to happen is just ridiculous. Further, if 300,000 women<\/a> are raped every year, that means in the course of 10 years that there\u2019s 3,000,000 women<\/a> in America who are struggling with that issue. In 20 years, there\u2019s 6,000,000. So that means there are millions of women<\/a> who potentially could be suffering the PTSD of having been raped, and they are sitting in a bathroom and they are seeing a guy<\/a> come walking in, how incredibly insensitive is that of the political left to think that this should just be OK.<\/p>\n

The political left often times beats up on the political right and accuses us of having some war on women<\/a>. Well, I\u2019m going to tell you. This is a war on women<\/a> as far as I\u2019m concerned, but it\u2019s coming from the left, and it\u2019s ridiculous. And as far as the religious argument goes, and this applies to the issue of Syrian refugees as well. There\u2019s a big fuss about whether or not that we should sue the federal government over having to take refugees from Syria to the State of Tennessee, I believe we should sue the federal government in that case because Romans 13 is pretty darn clear, this is the passage where it tells people to submit to the authorities \u2013 meaning, basically if you\u2019re in the government, you should do what the government tells you to do. You know, don\u2019t speed, all that kind of stuff. Obey the laws is basically what the passage says. But what it goes on to say is that because the government exists for two purposes.\u00a0The government exists to honor those people who live<\/a> honorable who do good things \u2013 to reward people who behave well and to crush evil. So that means as a state senator, my responsibility very clearly in Romans 13 is to create an environment where people who do right are rewards and the people who do wrong are crushed. Evil is crushed. So I\u2019m going to protect women<\/a> in their bathrooms, and I\u2019m going to protect our state against potential infiltration from the Syrian ISIS people in the refugee program. And whoever wants to stand up and take me on that, I\u2019m ready to fight.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

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April 26, 2017<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Issues:\u00a0<\/div>\n