WASHINGTON -- Vice President Joe Biden is throwing his unequivocal support behind letting transgender people serve openly in the U.S. military, as the Obama administration considers whether and when to lift a long-standing ban.
Biden's declaration at the Human Rights Campaign's annual dinner Saturday goes further than anything the Obama administration has said before, evoking memories of when Biden outpaced President Barack Obama in endorsing gay marriage. Although the White House says Obama supports a Pentagon review aimed at ending the transgender ban, neither Obama nor the military has said definitively that the policy will be changed.
"No longer is there any question transgender people are able to serve in the United States military," Biden told a crowd of 3,000 gay-rights activists at the group's star-studded gala.
Biden, who is considering running for president, declared transgender rights to be "the civil-rights issue of our time" as he delivered the keynote speech, just hours after Hillary Rodham Clinton -- his top rival if he enters the race -- gave a rousing address elevating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, or LGBT, rights as a main pillar of her 2016 bid. Biden said gays and lesbians shouldn't fear "those shrill voices" trying to undo gay marriage and other advances because Americans "have moved so far beyond them and their appeals to prejudice and fear and homophobia."
"There's homophobes still left -- most of them are running for president," Biden said, in a playful yet cutting jab at the Republican candidates he could one day face.
Transgender rights were a commanding focus at this year's gathering of the Human Rights Campaign, whose endorsement and members' support are eagerly sought in the Democratic primary. With gay marriage ruled constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, many gay rights activists have turned their attention to transgender issues, which have burst into the public spotlight only recently.
"We need to say with one voice that transgender people are valued," Clinton said to a smaller gathering Saturday morning. "They are loved, and they are us."
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has said the Pentagon's current regulations banning transgender individuals are outdated and has ordered a study aimed at formally ending one of the last gender- or sexuality-based barriers to military service. The study began in July and is slated to last six months, with an eye toward assessing any impact on the military's readiness to fight.
But the White House has avoided prejudging the outcome of the review, wary of criticism that Obama is imposing politically driven changes irrespective of the advice of his military commanders.
"It's simple," the vice president said. "All Americans are qualified to serve, should be able to serve."
The vice president made no explicit reference to his pending decision about the 2016 race, which has dragged on beyond his self-imposed deadline. When an audience member interrupted with a loud shout of "you should run," Biden quickly shifted back to a story about his dad.
Although Biden has enjoyed strong support from gay groups, many prominent gay Democrats have committed to Clinton, who drew loud cheers whenever her face appeared in videos played before Biden's speech. Richard Socarides, a former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton, said gay activists have a strong emotional connection to Clinton despite Biden's "special footnote in the history of our battle for marriage."
"He deserves our special thanks for that," Socarides said. "But I think we're sticking with Hillary."
Also at the dinner, Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said the U.S. still has a long way to go in the fight for gay rights.
The country still hasn't achieved equality, despite a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court giving gays and lesbians the right to marry nationwide, Cook said.
"Thirty-one states, more than half the stars on our American flag, have no laws to protect gay and transgendered people from discrimination," Cook said. "Discrimination doesn't simply fade. It has to be pushed back, challenged, overcome and then kept at bay."
Cook was honored for using his platform as leader of the tech giant to fight for gay rights. Since writing publicly about being gay for the first time in an essay in Bloomberg Businessweek last year, Cook has come out against state laws that allow small businesses to refuse service to gays and lesbians on religious grounds.
Information for this article was contributed by Josh Lederman and Lisas Lerer of The Associated Press and by Gerrit De Vynck of Bloomberg News.
A Section on 10/05/2015