NCFM is commemorating the 107th Anniversary of the Selective Service System; the law requiring
male citizens to register for the military draft by the age of eighteen, by filing a Complaint in the
Central District of California. The Complaint requests that the court deem the mandatory
registration of male citizens and immigrants a violation of Equal Protection under the Fifth
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as it is unlawful discrimination on the basis of sex.
Along with NCFM, five other individual plaintiffs joined the lawsuit. Twenty-year old plaintiff Jordan
Falcon stated that he, “ was opposed to bias conscription and does not like the idea of being sent
to war based upon his gender.” Tyler McNamara, Conor McKiernan, Nicholas Milillo, and Nicolas
Mendiola are fervent supporters of the equal treatment of all sexes.
NCFM filed a similar Complaint on April 6, 2013. That matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court and
on June 7, 2021, their Writ for Certiorari was denied. Justice Sotomayor stated, ““But at least for
now, the Court’s longstanding deference to Congress on matters of national defense and military
affairs cautions against granting review while Congress actively weighs the issue.”
Congress did, in fact, weigh in on the matter when it passed the next defense bill. In July 2021, the
Senate Armed Services Committee voted 21-5 to add women to the draft registration system. The
House Armed Services Committee approved the change in September in a 35-24 vote. The
committee approval came after a congressionally mandated commission in 2020 recommended
draft registration be expanded to include women, calling it a “necessary and fair step.”
A small group of six Congressmembers were adamantly opposed to making women register and
threatened to vote against the NDAA as a whole if the final bill included the provision to, in its
words, “draft our daughters.”
The comment which references ‘our daughters’ does not acknowledge the fact that women serve
in every capacity in all the armed forces; including combat roles. Since 2013, there have been a
slew of historic firsts, from the first female graduates of the Army Ranger School in 2015, to the first
female Marine to lead an infantry platoon in 2018.
Every study and military recommendation have unequivocally concluded that a gender-neutral
draft promotes fairness in the military and is in the best interest of our national security.
Those six Congressmembers who opposed including female citizens and immigrants in the
Selective Service System went against the Department of Defense. These six members of Congress
who used political influence by threatening to hold up approval of the defense bill dismissed the
fact that gender-neutral registration celebrates the achievements and capabilities of women who
currently serve and readies our country to launch the best possible national defense by allowing
the military access to the most qualified people to serve, regardless of their sex.
Every year since 2021 when the Supreme Court denied NCFM’s Petition for Writ of Certiorari,
Congress had the opportunity to act when they passed the annual defense bill.
It is the position of NCFM that limiting registration to men is based upon antiquated stereotypes of
the capacity of women to serve and fully participate in military and civic life; and equally archaic
and compartmentalized views that men lack the ability to remain at home as caretakers. The ban
assumes women are unsuitable for military service notwithstanding their own individual abilities
and predispositions. The limitation on registration to male citizens sanctifies these biases and
encapsulates them in federal law.
Plaintiffs NCFM, Tyler McNamara, Conor McKiernan, Nicholas Milillo, Nicolas Mendiola, and
Jordan Falcon, collectively, through this action seek to end discrimination on the basis of sex as
related to registration with the Selective Service System, an action that is long overdue.
While there has not been a conscription in almost 50 years, in light of the current state of world
affairs, the possibility looms closer than ever before. Equalizing registration with the Selective
Service System would ensure that all sexes have the same rights and responsibilities to serve their
country if called upon to do so.
NCFM’s Complaint seeks to eliminate registration on the basis of sex as a pool of draft-age people,
regardless of their sex, will enhance military readiness, and contribute to our national security.
NCFM FILES COMPLAINT ON THE 107TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM
YOUNG MEN MUST REGISTER FOR THE SELECTIVE SERVICE (SSS) BUT NOT YOUNG WOMEN, ALTHOUGH BOTH MAY VOLUNTEER FOR MILITARY SERVICE AND CAREERS.
Thank you, National Coalition for Men,for filing the Federal Complaint against the male only military registration. Aristotle, in his book, “Politics”, stated words to the effect that a democratic form of government was one of the worst forms of government unless all citizens had the same rights and responsibilities.Otherwise, it was merely the tyranny of the majority. With regard to the male only military registration and military draft, the “Tyranny of the Majority” principle has replaced accepted republican and democratic norms as further outlined in the U.S. Constitution and the US Declaration of Independence.