President Trump nominated Tennessee state senator Mark Green, a West Point graduate who served as a medic in the Iraqi war, to become secretary of the Army in late April 2017.
Green withdrew his name from consideration two weeks later after the release of a video of him criticizing Muslims, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transsexual Americans.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/candidate-for-secretary-of-army-pulls-out-amid-controversy
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mark-green-transgender-evil_n_58f8c4cce4b0cb086d7eb012
Green’s withdrawal came after Trump’s first nominee for the position, Vincent Viola, withdrew his name because of potential conflict of interests.
Green was forced to withdraw his name because of his bigoted statements.
Green, addressing a Tea Party crowd in September 2016, said, “If you polled the psychiatrists, they’re going to tell you that transgender is a disease.”
This is patently untrue.
https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2015/11/psychology-transgender
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/21963-transgender-ensuring-mental-health
Green would have been well advised to consult with a psychiatrist, but not to question him or her about whether transgenderism is disease.
Green and a psychiatrist would have so much to talk about.
In addition, Green said that part of his job as a public official was to “crush evil” and that included opposing policies that advanced transgender equality. He compared those who wanted to use restrooms that complied with their chosen gender with rapists.
“There are 300,000 rapes in the United States every year,” Green said in an interview. “Three hundred thousand women who are sexually assaulted by predators. We know this. It’s documented. It’s factual. To think that some young guy isn’t going to take advantage of the system where we’re going to allow guys to go into the bathroom ― the women’s bathroom ― to think that it’s not going to happen is just ridiculous.”
Time magazine said that America’s leading organizations committed to stopping violence against women called Green’s claim a “myth.”
https://time.com/4314896/transgender-bathroom-bill-male-predators-argument/
Green also said that businesses should be able to discriminate on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.
The Huffington Post quoted Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, an LGBTQ advocacy group, as saying that Green’s anti-LGBTQ views should disqualify him as secretary of the Army.
“Our nation is strongest when we are together,” she said, “and calling transgender people ‘evil’ does just the opposite.”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mark-green-transgender-evil_n_58f8c4cce4b0cb086d7eb012
Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said that that Green’s “dangerous views and hateful comments are disqualifying for any public servant, let alone someone wishing to serve as secretary of the Army.”
Several senators, including John McCain, a Republican of Arizona and a retired Navy captain, expressed concern about or outright antagonism toward the Green nomination.
Senator Tammy Duckworth, a former Army helicopter pilot who lost her legs in the Iraq war, said that Green was “not fit to lead the Army.”
“It should not matter what religion you are or what your sexual orientation is when you join the military, only that you care deeply about this country and want to serve and defend it,” Duckworth said.
Furthermore, Green cited a verse from The Bible to justify his belief that the United States should not accept Syrian immigrants fleeing violence in their home country.
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/329797-lgbt-group-slams-army-nominee-comments-on-crushing-evil/
Green responded bitterly in his letter withdrawing from consideration as Army secretary, claiming that “false and misleading attacks” against him doomed his nomination.
“Tragically, my life of public service and my Christian beliefs have been mischaracterized and attacked by a few on the other side of the aisle for political gain,” Green said.
Green’s views were properly characterized. Secondly, he was not rejected because Democrats sought political gain. Democrats and Republicans condemned Green and his narrowminded bigotry.
And thirdly, it was in fact, Green who mischaracterized The Bible.
There are more than 30,000 verses in The Bible and only a handful refer to homosexual behavior.
https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/2015/08/the_7_bible_verses_on_homosexu.html
There are hundreds – if not thousands – of passages in The Bible that refer to kindness, love, tolerance, and acceptance of others, that condemn hatred and bigotry.
Green was elected to the House of Representatives in 2018.
https://markgreen.house.gov/biography
He serves in the House Freedom Caucus.
