Trans-Identifying Space Force Lt. Col. Says ‘Inclusion is a National Security Imperative’
In October, transgender-identifying United States Space Force Lt. Colonel Bree Fram told the audience at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit that “inclusion is a national security imperative.”
The conference, which took place just one day after national “Coming Out Day,” celebrated the “preeminent women in business—along with select leaders in government, philanthropy, education and the arts,” according to Fortune’s description of the summit.
While being introduced, the male Space Force member was referenced in connection to the counterfeit national holiday. “It’s a day that is undoubtedly meaningful to our next guest,” one of the event moderators said. “Lieutenant Colonel Bree Fram Colonel is the highest ranking out active duty transgender officer in the U.S. Department of Defense.”
“We fight today and we are gonna fight in the future using brain power,” Lt. Colonel Fram said. “And if that brain, who’s gonna revolutionize the way that we fight in space, we fight in cyber, just happens to be in a trans body, you should want them all serving alongside me.”
Shortly after explaining the importance of accepting transgender-identifying individuals into the military, currently the most elite fighting force in the world, Fram said, “It’s inclusion that drives [high performance]. Because you can bring people in and if they don’t feel safe to speak up, if they don’t feel safe to bring their full selves to work, you’re not going to get the value of the diversity.”
Fram is the co-leader of the “Department of the Air Force LGBTQ+ Initiatives Team, dedicated to eliminating barriers to LGBTQ+ military service in the Air and Space Force” according to his website, which advertises his podcast, essays, speaking engagements, and more.
The Department of Defense (DoD) prohibits active duty service members from “engaging in partisan political activities” and more specifically advises “all members of the Armed Forces [to] always avoid the inference that their political activities imply or appear to imply DoD sponsorship, approval, or endorsement.” Despite this, Fram has been given a public platform in which he uses his title in the military to address partisan issues, while in uniform.
