Gov. Cox won’t take a stance on Trump’s trans troop ban, says Utah will aid in ‘transition to new work’

Just over a week after members of the Utah National Guard received an email encouraging them to leave the force if they are transgender, their commander in chief, Gov. Spencer Cox, continues to avoid questions about where he stands on the White House directive.

When the Republican governor was asked during his monthly PBS Utah news conference Thursday about his thoughts on President Donald Trump’s executive order banning transgender people from the military and how it will affect the state force, Cox said, “It’s a very, very small number, and we care about them — we care about everyone in this state. I’m grateful for anyone who’s willing to put on a uniform to defend our country.”

The order was blocked by a federal judge earlier this week in a ruling that will likely be appealed. Cox added, “If the court rules in favor of President Trump’s policy, then we’ll do everything possible to help [transgender guard members] transition to other work. We’ve got a system set up to do that. We want to do this as compassionately as possible.”

But when a Salt Lake Tribune reporter followed up to clarify whether Cox supports Trump’s order, he moved on to another question.

Last week, Cox’s office did not respond to multiple inquiries from The Tribune after it obtained an email sent to members of the Utah Army National Guard that said, “Individuals with a current or prior diagnosis of gender dysphoria, exhibit symptoms consistent with gender dysphoria, have a history of cross-sex hormone therapy, or a history of sex reassignment or genital reconstruction surgery as treatment for gender dysphoria or in pursuit of a sex transition are disqualified from military service in the Army.”

The email — from Brig. Gen. Shawn Fuellenbach — said “Phase 1″ was voluntary separation, and included a memo with blank spaces for soldiers to fill out to request their discharge. The following phase, which the email said would begin next week, was “involuntary separation” — a process for which the Army had not given instructions, per the message.

Cox’s lack of response to Trump’s order so far contrasts with that of his predecessor when the president, during his first term in 2017, issued a similar directive. Then-Gov. Gary Herbert, under whom Cox served as lieutenant governor, told reporters during another PBS Utah news conference, “I’m not going to defend President Trump on this issue.”

“People ought to be treated fairly with equality — and that includes the gay community, the LGBTQ” community, Herbert said then, adding that he did not understand the reasoning behind the order.

Other Utah Republicans who were in elected office at the time, including Sen. Orrin Hatch and Rep. Mia Love, joined in criticizing the Trump administration’s move.

“The cruel irony is that thousands of transgender servicemembers have sacrificed — some risking their lives — to ensure for others the very equal protection rights the military ban seeks to deny them,” wrote U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in her decision halting the executive order Tuesday.

A ban on transgender people serving openly in the military was first lifted in October 2016, allowing transgender military members to access gender-affirming care and to change their gender identities in personnel records. President Joe Biden overturned Trump’s 2017 ban immediately upon taking office in January 2021.

In his January executive order, Trump claimed “the Armed Forces have been afflicted with radical gender ideology to appease activists” and argued the identity of transgender service members “conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle.”

It’s unclear how many transgender people are currently serving in the Utah National Guard, but following the 2017 ban, a spokesperson told The Tribune at the time that there were fewer than 20 members of the state unit who identified as transgender.

The presence of transgender troops, Utah National Guard spokesperson Lt. Col. Steven Fairborn said in 2017, “has not been disruptive. These are people we have served shoulder to shoulder with.”

A 2020 study of the impact of Trump’s previous ban by former surgeons general of the Army and Navy, as well as a former health and safety director for the Coast Guard, concluded, “the overall impact of the ban has been to harm readiness by compromising recruitment, reputation, retention, unit cohesion, morale, medical care, and good order and discipline.”

Tribune reporter Addy Baird contributed to this story.