Trump's Army Secretary Pick Sponsors "License To Discriminate" Legislation

Mark Green

President Obama's Army Secretary, Eric Fanning, was the first openly gay man to serve in that position.

President Trump, being everything anti-Obama, now logically picks for his Army Secretary Tennessee state Senator Mark Green - a man who is currently sponsoring anti-LGBT legislation in his state.

Because, of course.

From The Huffington Post:

Green is the sponsor of SB 127, a bill that would bar government entities from taking “discriminatory action against a business entity on the basis of the internal policies of the business entity.”

Tennessee does not currently have nondiscrimination protections on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, although some municipalities do have stronger rules protecting LGBTQ government employees. Green’s bill, however, would bar local governments and public universities from looking at companies’ internal policies when doing business or giving out contracts ― because it would be considered discrimination against the business.

“You [wouldn’t be able to] have a provision in your contracting rule saying, ‘We’ll only contract with organizations that treat married same-sex couples equally. You couldn’t do that,” explained Chris Sanders, executive director of the Tennessee Equality Project. “Or you couldn’t say, ‘We’ll only subcontract with companies that have contraception as part of their health insurance.’ It’s not just LGBT [issues].”

Green’s bill has already passed the state Senate, and is under consideration in the state House.

Green is Trump's second pick for Army Secretary, after Vincent Viola, a billionaire and owner of the Florida Panthers NHL team, pulled out of consideration saying he couldn’t separate himself from his businesses enough so as not to pose a conflict of interest.