Why the GOP is Going to War over Military Drag Queens

Katherine Kuzminski, a senior fellow and program director of the Military, Veterans & Society program at the Center for New American Security, said it was “unfair” for the GOP to attack the military’s lethality and fighting capabilities over diversity promotion.

“If what we’re afraid of is [Russian President] Vladimir Putin thinking poorly of our military readiness because we enable pronouns,” she said, “all we have to do is look at the outcomes on the battlefield that the Russian army is facing right now.”

However, Kuzminski said the “crossfire” over transgender and LGBTQ inclusion is “affecting overall perceptions of military service” and impacting recruitment, even if the individual servicemembers and DEI programs are not.

An annual survey from the Ronald Reagan Institute released in December found public trust in the military dropped to 45 percent in 2022, down from 70 percent five years ago. And 50 percent of Americans cited “woke” practices undermining military effectiveness as a reason for losing trust either a great deal or some.

Kuzminski advised military leaders to highlight the achievements of transgender and LGBTQ members, but refrain from making political statements or promoting high-profile events that may become politicized.

“This is where it’s up to military leadership to have the wisdom to navigate what will make their servicemembers become a political football and take a step back from that,” Kuzminski said.

Read the full story and more from The Hill.