Pete Hegseth says allowing gays to serve was "gateway" to undermining military

Trump's Christian nationalist Defense Secretary nominee also believes it reflects a "leftist, Marxist agenda," which is just plain stupid.

In addition to being a drunk, an alleged sexual assaulter, and a crusader among Christian nationalists—including donning white supremacist tattoos—the Fox News pundit Pete Hegseth, nominated by Donald Trump to lead the Pentagon, also believes it was wrong to allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military.

At this point, Trump has managed to stabilize the nomination after it looked doomed last week, with many of his army of supporters threatening a primary challenge to GOP senators like Joni Ernst of Iowa who were reticent about Hegseth. It’s still not clear that Hegseth will make it; the confirmation hearings could be rough. And this issue regarding gays in the military could be one that affects at least a couple of GOP senators who voted to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell,” like Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine.

The news of Hegseth’s position is cause for further alarm regarding LGBTQ rights in the new Trump administration. Considering that Trump is planning to engage in a cruel purging of transgender members of the military—and Hegseth is on an “anti-woke” crusade—the Pentagon could also become a hostile place for gays and lesbians while harming military readiness.

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CNN reports on various instances in which Hegseth has communicated his beliefs:

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, has repeatedly criticized policies allowing gay people to serve openly in the US military, calling them part of a “Marxist” agenda to prioritize social justice over combat readiness.

In his 2024 book “The War on Warriors” and in subsequent media promotions this year, Hegseth described both the original “don’t ask, don’t tell” (DADT) policy and its repeal in 2011 as a “gateway” and a “camouflage” for broader cultural changes that he claims have undermined military cohesion and effectiveness.

In a 2015 appearance on Fox News, Hegseth also argued these policies like repealing DADT “erode standards” in favor of political goals like social engineering.

What does any of this even mean? Not only is this another example in which Republicans call anything they don’t like “Marxism”—clearly having no idea what that is—but it reveals the blatant homophobia of someone like Hegseth. DADT not only caused harm to thousands who were separated from the military; it hurt the military, as talented, trained soldiers were removed for no reason other than bigotry—which is what will happen again with regard to transgender service members.

Contrary to Hegseth’s claims, numerous studies have shown that the end of DADT did not hurt unit cohesion, something bigots for years said would happen. It actually helped the military.

In his book, Hegseth, who is also against allowing women to serve in combat, wrote that he initially was indifferent to the ending of DADT while he was serving in Iraq:

Our commander briefed the unit, peppered with a few jokes, you know, infantry stuff. We mostly laughed it off and moved on. America was at war. Gays and lesbians were already serving in the military. I had seen the enemy with my own eyes. We needed everybody.

But he changed his mind:

Not because I have a newfound ax to grind with gay Americans. But because I naïvely believed that’s what ending Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was all about. Once again, our good faith was used against us. The Left never gives an inch and always takes a mile.

President Obama signed the repeal of DADT in 2010. Meidas News first reported on Hegseth’s comments from Fox News in 2015 regarding repeal:

And what you’re seeing is a military right now that is more interested in social engineering led by this president than they are in war fighting. So as a result, through ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ and women in the military and these standards, they’re going to inevitably start to erode standards because they want that one female special operator, that one female Green Beret, that one female Army Ranger, that one female Navy SEAL.

As CNN reports:

Hegseth has been outspoken about what he calls “woke” policies that he believes have undermined the US military, including allowing women to serve in combat roles and transgender members to serve openly. Hegseth writes these changes are the consequence of the “social justice tinkering” that started with DADT.

So Hegseth is blaming the end of DADT and the actions of President Obama for undermining the military with “social justice tinkering” and “woke” policies. But in fact, the military has been made stronger. It’s not as comfortable a place as it was for bigots to spew their hate, however, which seems to be the real issue here.

Hegseth has tried to walk back his comments on women in combat, trying to save his nomination, when he’s made the comments against women serving in combat as recently as a few weeks ago.

Similarly, just this past June, Hegseth lashed out at gays in the military on the Ben Shapiro Show:

At least when it was an ‘Army of One,’ they were, you know, a tough-looking, go get ‘em army – but you’re right, that was the subtle shifting toward an individual ad campaign. Now you just have the absurdity of ‘I have two mommies and I’m so proud to show them that I can wear the uniform too.’ So they, it’s just like everything else the Marxists and the leftists have done. At first it was camouflaged nicely and now they’re just, they’re just open about it.

Hegseth will no doubt try to walk that back even though it was just months ago. And purging of gays from the military, who have been allowed to serve openly by an act of Congress since 2011, would be exceedingly difficult. But that doesn’t mean Hegseth can’t make the military a hostile and even dangerous place for gays and lesbians, as well as for women and many others, as he pushes a Christian nationalist agenda at the Pentagon.