Washington veteran says Supreme Court decision on trans troops will hurt readiness

Kathryn Goldston felt a pit in her stomach after she saw the Supreme Court revived a ban on transgender troops Tuesday morning.

“I’m not going to lie, this is a pretty big blow,” Goldston said.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court decided that the administration of President Donald Trump can enforce bans on transgender troops while legal challenges proceed. Goldston, who’s a retired U.S. Army sergeant first class and resides in Olympia, said the decision will have a negative domino effect on all the units.

She is also the communications director for Sparta Pride, a nonprofit for transgender members of the military or veterans.

“If someone’s like a supply sergeant or like myself who was a medic – and you suddenly have those individuals pulled out of those units – those units are no longer mission capable, because those people who have been trained to do the jobs within those units are now pulling them away,” said Goldston, who served in the military for 18 years. “That’s experience, money and everything else that is pulled from the units.”

She said of the transgender service members who are serving, more than 53% of them are senior noncommissioned officers, meaning they have between 12 to 20 years of service .

She also said she knows at least 30 active transgender troop members in Washington affected by this decision.

“This is not over. We will persist. We may have to take the uniform off for a little bit, but we’re not going to win if we stay silent,” Goldston said.

“We will be back in uniform again.”