FIRST ON FOX – The Pentagon’s second-highest-ranking official outlined a commitment to policies focused on “nonbinary service members” and mandating critical race theory training, claiming those points were keys to national security.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleene Hicks discussed the need to create a cultural change in the military at multiple Pride events, including most recently on June 5.
During a DoD Pride event for the Association of LGBTQI+ Service Members in June, Hicks discussed the Pentagon’s LGBTQ priorities vis-à-vis military “readiness,” a term which refers to the ability to deter potential adversaries, defend national interests and ensure that armed forces can meet their missions.
“We’ve heard concerns about … policies focused on the needs of [so-called] nonbinary service members. Please know our commitment is resolute, just as it has been over the past three-and-a-half years, to continue our progress in full alignment with our focus on readiness and our focus on the well-being of our people, on which our readiness depends,” she said.
The Pentagon told Fox News Digital that policies for “nonbinary” service members didn’t exist at DoD.
“Deputy Secretary Hicks spoke about the need for Americans to choose public service in order to sustain our all-volunteer force, and the need to ensure health, safety and trust within our military as a matter of readiness,” a spokesperson for Hicks told Fox News Digital. “That would include listening to servicemember input on a wide variety of policies-not just the ones she highlighted on this occasion. She didn’t talk about, or imply, the importance of any particular policy in the context of national security.”
Hicks proceeded to outline how the Biden administration was addressing the “erosion of trust” in government institutions, and proposed to handle recruiting challenges by further entrenching DEI.
“This should alarm every freedom-loving American,” said Nicole Kiprilov at the Center for Military Excellence. Kiprilov went on to call Hicks’ remarks “simply self-loathing, anti-Americanism masquerading as ‘DEI'” …
