Said MTV President Chris McCarthy of the change<\/a>:\u00a0\u201cWhy should it be a man<\/a>? It could be a man<\/a>, it could be a woman<\/a>, it could be transgender, it could be nonconformist.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n CNN reports<\/a>:<\/p>\n Pentagon Spokesman Lt. Col. Paul Haverstick told CNN Wednesday that \u201cMTV has requested service member participation for this year\u2019s VMAs.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAt this time the Department of Defense is reviewing the parameters of the request,\u201d Haverstick said.<\/p>\n Active duty military members face restrictions in participating in high-profile national public events, particularly those with a political bent.<\/p>\n \u201cMTV has invited transgender members of the US armed forces to the 2017 Video Music Awards and we would be honored if they could attend,\u201d said Chris McCarthy, president of MTV. \u201cAny patriot who is putting their own life at risk to fight for our freedom and stands for equality is a hero at MTV, and to young people everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n The Trump administration this week issued a memo outlining guidelines for the trans<\/a> military ban to Defense Department officials. The memo \u201corders the military to encourage transgender service members to retire early, not rehire\u00a0enlisted transgender personnel as soon as their contracts expire, fire transgender officers who are up for promotion, and decline to take on new transgender enlisted personnel or officers\u201d according to Towleroad\u2019s Ari Ezra Waldman, who notes in a new column this morning<\/a> that the ban is unconstitutional.<\/p>\n The post MTV Has Invited Transgender Military Service Members to the VMAs<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n