The head of the US intelligence community waded into the very public culture war being waged over the LGBT rights.
According to a press release issued Wednesday, the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told a conference of spies that they “have the chance to lead by example” on transgender issues.
“So I’ll say without equivocation…in [intelligence community] facilities…you can use whatever restroom you feel comfortable and safe in,” Clapper said.
He made the speech at the Fifth Annual Intelligence Community Pride Summit. The ceremonies applaud “officers for sharing their authentic selves at work each day.”
Unlike counterparts in the US military who are reluctant to allow open transgender service, the spy community has been honoring their LGBT comrades each year for a half-decade.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) set up a panel last March at the SXSW festival in Austin titled “America’s LGBT Spies: Secret Agents of Change.” The presentation featured agents who described their experiences as openly gay employees of the intelligence state.
The Obama administration has moved aggressively in recent weeks to protect transgender Americans’ civil rights. The Department of Education threatened to bring suit against or withhold funding from schools that discriminate against students who don’t identify with the gender given to them at birth.
The Department of Justice also sued North Carolina for passing a law prohibiting transgender Americans from using the bathroom of their choice.
President Obama has worked at a slower pace, however, to address discrimination in the military. The ban on open transgender service in the armed forces remains intact nearly a year after Defense Secretary chief Ashton Carter pledged to lift it last July.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest defended the Pentagon’s inertia last month, claiming top brass are proceeding “as conscientiously as they should.”
