San Francisco, CA — Palm Center director Aaron Belkin released the following statement in reaction to yesterday’s announcement that Defense Secretary James Mattis will form a panel of experts to provide advice on the implementation of the President’s direction to ban transgender service members from the military.

“While Secretary Mattis may be trying to inject additional evidence into the process, that doesn’t change the fact that the President has ordered him to ban a group of honorably serving Americans. Transgender military service has already been studied in-depth, and every study has found the same thing, that inclusive policy promotes readiness. If the Secretary conducts a comprehensive, fair study, he will once again find the same conclusion: that inclusive policy promotes readiness, lethality, and cost savings — much more than discharges and closeted service do.”