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Tennessee Sen. Mark Green is President Trump's nominee to become Army secretary. Ayrika Whitney/USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee

Mark Green(Photo: Jed DeKalb)

WASHINGTON Nearly three dozen House Democrats are asking the Senate to reject Tennessean Mark Greens nomination as Army secretary, arguing he cannot be trusted to ensure that lesbian, gay, bisexualand transgender soldiers are able to serve without discrimination or harassment.

LGBT soldiers are willing to make tremendous sacrifices to protect our rights and freedoms, the lawmakers wrote in a letter. It would be deeply disrespectful to their service to appoint a secretary of the Army whose history of homophobia and transphobia makes it clear that he is not willing to do the same for them.

The letter, dated April 24 and made public Thursday, was addressed to Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the committees top Democrat. The committee will be responsible for holding Greens confirmation hearing.

Thirty-one House Democrats signed the letter, including Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III, chairman of the Congressional Transgender Equality Task Force. None of the letters signers are from Tennessee.

Green, a former Army officer and West Point graduate who was deployed three times overseas, was nominated earlier this month by President Donald Trump to become Army secretary. Green iscurrently a Republican state senator from Tennessee whose conservative philosophy lines up closely with the tea party.

Multiple LGBT groups have denounced Greens nomination, calling him a social issues warrior who has worked to undermine LGBT rights at every turn. One of the groups, GLAAD, has released audio from a radio program in which Green, discussing transgender bathroom issues and ISIS, said his responsibility as a state senator was to crush evil.

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Intheir letter, House Democrats mentioned some of the same concerns about Green, including his sponsorship of a bill in the Tennessee Senate that would have barred local governments and public universities from instituting non-discrimination policies to governthe private companies with which they could work. Critics say that shields companies that discriminate against LGBT people.

The Democrats also point out that Green co-sponsored a bill that would have forced transgender students to use the bathroom that matches their legal sex rather than their actual gender and that he voted for a bill that would have allowed providers of mental health care to refuse to treat LGBT people.

The Armed Forces have made great strides in welcoming LGBT soldiers into their ranks since the repeal of the dont ask dont tell policy on military service, the Democrats wrote.

Their letter also cites an Army memo accompanying the 2016 decision to allow transgender Americans to serve in the military. The memo notes that the Army is open to all who can meet the standards for military service and that the military remains committed to treating all soldiers with dignity and respect.

Unfortunately, nothing in Mr. Greens record suggests that he shares that commitment, the Democrats wrote.

Green could not be reached for comment.

But in a post on his Facebook page earlier this week, Green accused hiscritics of "cutting and splicing my words to paint me as a hater."

Green wrote that every American has a right to defend their country and that he has never considered himself anyone's judge.

Green also has come under fire from a Muslim advocacy group because of past statements he made that the organization considers derogatory toward the Islamic faith and its followers.

Reach Michael Collins at 703-854-8927, at mcollins2@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @mcollinsNEWS.

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House Democrats call on Senate to reject Mark Green as Army secretary - The Tennessean