Donald Trumps nominee for secretary of defense, former Fox host Pete Hegseth, flipped his position on Dont Ask, Dont Tell repeal without explanation, telling reporters yes when asked whether he supports allowing gay people to serve in the military.Hegseth is facing an uphill battle for confirmation in the Senate due to accusations of sexual assault and extreme drunkenness. His opposition to women serving in combat roles in the military and his previous tirades against LGBTQ+ people serving in the military havent helped either. Related Donald Trumps Secretary of Defense nominee thinks LGBTQ+ soldiers harm the military Pete Hegseth thinks the estimated 126,827 LGBTQ+ military service members erode standards of the US military. For example, he said on The Ben Shapiro Show earlier this year that repealing Dont Ask Dont Tell, the law that banned gay and bi people from serving openly in the military, was part of a shift from the tough looking, go get em army to the absurdity of I have two mommies and Im so proud to show them that I can wear a uniform too.' Insights for the LGBTQ+ community Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more. Subscribe to our Newsletter today He said that Marxists and leftists allowed queer people to serve in the military, and in his book The War on Warriors he said that this was a gateway and a camouflage for broad cultural changes that harmed the military.An estimated6.1%of current military personnel identify as LGBTQ+,according to a 2022 study, a percentage that accounts for approximately 126,827 people. Trump is also expected to ban transgender people from serving in the military, which could result in over 10,000 people being discharged from the military at a time when the military faces difficulty in recruiting enough servicemembers.Hegseth has also been hostile to the idea that women can serve in combat roles.We shouldnt be having military sexual assault. Everybody understands that. We need to be taking care of it, hesaid in 2016. You think you bring women into infantry, different units, you might exacerbate that a little bit? Im not saying thats anybodys fault, but thats an unintended consequence of that priority also.He doubled down on this position on women in combat just last month. Im straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles, he asserted in a recent CNN interview. It hasnt made us more effective, hasnt made us more lethal, has made fighting more complicated. Weve all served with women, and theyre great. But our institutions dont have to incentivize that in places where, traditionally not traditionally, over human history men in those positions are more capable.But he appears to be walking back these positions as confirmation hearings loom. He met with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) yesterday, and reporters then asked him whether he thought gay people should be allowed to serve in the military.Yes, he replied, according to Politico.In a recent Fox News appearance, he changed his position on women serving in combat roles.I also want an opportunity here to clarify comments that have been misconstrued, that I somehow dont support women in the military, some of our greatest warriors, our best warriors out there are women, he said on Sean Hannitys show this past Monday. But after President Trump asked me to be his Secretary of Defense, should I get the opportunity to do that, I look forward to being a secretary for all our warriors, men and women, for the amazing contributions they make in our military. Hegseth made headlines last week when he promised to stop drinking if he gets confirmed by the Senate. Shortly after Trump announced Hegseths nomination last month, an allegation of sexual assault from 2017 came to light. A woman accused him of sexually assaulting her at a conference for the California Federation of Republican Women in Monterrey. She reported the incident to police, and he made an undisclosed payment to her a few years later as part of a confidential settlement. No charges were filed, and Hegseth insists that the encounter was consensual. His lawyer now describes the incident as blackmail.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.