Space Force readiness could be at risk due to rising anti-LGBTQ+ laws

Two high-ranking Department of Defense officials have stated the rise in anti-LGBTQ+ laws like Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill has put the Air Force and Space Force readiness at risk due to the need to relocate families of bullied children.

According to the Human Rights Campaign, over 540 state bills have been introduced that discriminate against LGBTQ+ individuals this year, a record. The effects of these bills and the anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment have spread into the schools surrounding many Air and Space Force Bases and have led to service members requiring transfers to other bases to escape bullying.

“When I’m forced to move families from installations, because their school will do nothing when their LGBT kid is being bullied—that worries me, because that’s distracting from the mission, that’s detracting from our readiness,” said Alex Wagner, assistant Air Force secretary for manpower and reserve affairs.

Florida, a state filled with several military bases from the Blue Angles to the premier spaceport in Cape Canaveral, has been at the forefront of enacting these sorts of laws. The fear of state-based discrimination towards this community is shared by the Space Force as well.

The Space Force’s Chief Operating Officer, Lt. General DeAnna Burt, spoke about the rising number of laws during an event at the Pentagon Wednesday. “That number is rising and demonstrates a trend that could be dangerous for service members, their families and the readiness of the force as a whole,” Burt said. “Transformational cultural change requires leadership from the top, and we do not have time to wait.”

Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is a highly strategic asset for the DoD. It is a one of kind location offering an easterly launch corridor for the government’s intelligence and missile warning satellites. The concern of states that hold key military installations becoming unwelcoming to their members is not something these officials seem to be taking lightly.