WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced today that he is barring transgender people from serving in any capacity in the U.S. military.
In a series of tweets Trump said that, “After consultation with my Generals and military experts …” the U.S. government would not allow transgender individuals to serve in the military “in any capacity.”
Reaction to he announcement has been swift and Joshua Block, senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBT & HIV Project issued he following statement: “This is an outrageous and desperate action. The thousands of transgender service members serving on the front lines for this country deserve better than a commander-in-chief who rejects their basic humanity.
“Let us be clear. This has been studied extensively, and the consensus is clear: There are no cost or military readiness drawbacks associated with allowing trans people to fight for their country. The president is trying to score cheap political points on the backs of military personnel who have put their lives on the line for their country.
“There is no basis for turning trans people away from our military and the ACLU is examining all of our options on how to fight this. For any trans service member affected by today’s announcement: Please get in touch with us, because we want to hear from you.”
OutServe-SLDN issued the following statemen, “In his latest example of pseudo-policy-by-twitter, Donald Trump has shown blatant disregard for transgender service members who have been serving openly since October 2016. The disruptive burden to the military comes from indecision in a White House which itself is not focused on victory if it’s targeting service members. The readiness, effectiveness, and lethality of the Armed Services comes from the commitment of our troops – not the vagaries and bigotry of exclusionary policies.
We are committed to transgender service members. We are going to fight for them as hard as they are fighting for the country. And we’re going to start by taking the fight to Donald Trump in the Federal Court”
OutServe-SLDN estimates that there are more than 16,000 transgender individuals currently serving in the armed services. Many of them doing so openly after then-Secretary Carter lifted the ban on open transgender service last year. According to OutServe-SLDN this proposed push-back has no effect on transgender individuals that are currently serving; however, it does effect increase the burden on military recruitment when there are many transgender individuals standing by, ready to report for duty.
Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD expressed outrage over the ban saying, “President Trump today issued a direct attack on transgender Americans, and his administration will stop at nothing to implement its anti-LGBTQ ideology within our government – even if it means denying some of our bravest Americans the right to serve and protect our nation. Today further exposed President Trump’s overall goal to erase LGBTQ Americans from this nation. Trump has never been a friend to LGBTQ Americans, and this action couldn’t make that any more clear.”
According to reports by Foreign Policy, Vice President Mike Pence has worked quietly with members of the United States Congress to introduce three separate but identical amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would prevent the Pentagon from using government money to provide medical treatment related to gender transition. This would be a reversal of the Department of Defense’s year-old policy on covering medical procedures for transgender soldiers already bravely protecting the freedoms of the United States of America.
Today’s anti-LGBTQ announcement summarizes the full-scale attack on LGBTQ Americans by the Trump Administration. Since President Trump’s inauguration, the administration has stopped at nothing to erase LGBTQ acceptance from the federal government. This includes appointing the most anti-LGBTQ administration in recent memory, deleting any mention of “LGBTQ” from government websites, and rescinding guidance that protects transgender students at their schools.
