Getty President Donald Trump on July 24.
President Donald Trump announced on July 26 that transgender people will be banned from any and all military service under his administration.
Trump claimed that allowing transgender people to serve in the U.S. military would cause “tremendous medical costs and disruption” in those forces.
Trump revealed the controversial new policy in a stream of early morning tweets, and it was immediately met with criticism. Trump wrote:
After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow….Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you.
How many transgender people serve in the U.S. military?
According to the UCLA School of Law’s Williamsburg Institute in 2014, “An estimated 150,000 transgender individuals have served in the U.S. armed forces, or are currently on active duty. In addition, an estimated 134,000 transgender individuals are veterans or are retired from Guard or Reserve service, 8,800 transgender adults are currently on active duty in the U.S. armed forces, and an estimated 6,700 transgender individuals are serving in the Guard or Reserve forces.”
Here are Trump’s actual tweets:
After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow……
….Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming…..
….victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you
Trump’s tweets immediately sparked controversy.
Transgender people were previously banned from serving in the U.S. Military, but former President Barack Obama lifted that ban, allowing them to serve.
The tweets came a year after after The Wall Street Journal reported that the “U.S. military is preparing to lift its prohibition on transgender service members as early as next week, ushering in a cultural change in the armed forces.” According to NBC News, a year ago, “former President Barack Obama’s then-Secretary of Defense Ash Carter lifted the ban on transgender military service.”
However, the Obama change was still under final review. Trump’s “decision reversed a policy initially approved by the Defense Department under President Barack Obama, which was still under final review, that would allow transgender individuals to openly serve in the military,” CNN reported.
Some people labeled the ban bigotry.
The national nonprofit Gender Spectrum said in part, “Transgender troops effectively serve in our military and militaries around the world. The fear reflected in the President’s tweets reflects a lack of understanding re the transgender troops who have served, and are currently serving, our country. Excluding anyone who wants to serve our country based on gender identity is not only harmful to the individual, but also excludes an increasingly large number of people who we rely on to keep our country safe. President Trump’s tweets may be headline grabbing, but they do not make good policy.”
https://twitter.com/totalloumove/status/890208072148414466
https://twitter.com/Ryan_Mac_Phd/status/890208070634278915
In a 2016 memo, when the military adopted an open service policy for transgender people, the military quoted the then Secretary of Defense as saying, “This is the right thing to do for our people and for the force. We’re talking about talented Americans who are serving with distinction or who want the opportunity to serve. We can’t allow barriers unrelated to a person’s qualifications to prevent us from recruiting and retaining those who can best accomplish the mission.”
Per @DeptofDefense, hundreds of #transgender folks already serve our country. What happens to them Mr. President @realDonaldTrump?
