A national security think tank sued the Biden Pentagon on Thursday after it failed to hand over key documents pertaining to the administration’s “Transgender Day of Visibility,” which fell on Easter Sunday of 2024, the Daily Caller News Foundation has learned.
The Biden administration proclaimed earlier this year that it would recognize March 31 as the “Transgender Day of Visibility,” despite that date happening to fall on Easter this year, which prompted concern from the Christian community. The Center to Advance Security in America (CASA), a national security think tank, filed a Freedom of Information Act request (FOIA) in April demanding internal records and communications from the Department of Defense (DOD) in relation to how the transgender holiday was selected to fall on Easter Sunday, according to a copy of the request obtained by the DCNF.
President Joe Biden formally declared in 2021 that “Transgender Day of Visibility” would fall on March 31 of every year, and that date happened to correspond with Easter Sunday this year, although it had not in recent years, according to The Associated Press.
The DOD has failed to turn over the requested records to CASA, prompting the organization to file a lawsuit on Thursday in a bid to legally compel the department to comply with the FOIA request, according to a copy of the suit.
Transgender Americans are part of the fabric of our nation.
On Transgender Day of Visibility, our Administration honors the extraordinary courage of transgender Americans and reaffirms our commitment to forming a more perfect union – where all people are treated equally. pic.twitter.com/ElRf9l62Nk
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 31, 2024
CASA sought the records from the DOD to ensure the public could “understand the motivation behind the decision to declare a ‘Transgender Day of Visibility’ on the same day as the most important religious holiday for many Americans,” according to the FOIA request. After filing the initial FOIA request in April, the U.S. government confirmed receipt and told CASA it was “being sent to the Office of the Secretary and Joint Staff.”
But CASA received no further updates from the DOD, and given the lack of communication, “DOD has not met its statutory obligations to provide the requested records for the request,” the lawsuit reads.
“CASA has constructively exhausted its administrative remedies and seeks immediate judicial review,” the lawsuit reads.
CASA requested that the Washington, D.C., District Court — where the lawsuit was filed — order DOD to turn over the requested records within 10 days of the court’s decision and award CASA any costs associated with legal proceedings.
“The American people deserve full transparency and to know why this Holy day was designated as such so that we can fully see this Administration’s policy priorities,” Nicole Kiprilov, executive director of the Coalition for Military Excellence, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The Biden Pentagon has embraced several left-leaning initiatives, including diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, promotion of LGBTQ ideology and providing funding to servicemembers who incur costs for traveling out of state for an abortion. A study released by the Arizona State University Center for American Institutions in June found that the Pentagon’s current policies were hampering military readiness and creating a sense of divisiveness among servicemembers.
The DOD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Featured Image Credit: Flickr/Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz
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