This morning Trump tweeted that transgender individuals will not be able to serve in the military in “any capacity”. His despicable and irrational statements can be found below:
After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow……
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017
….Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017
….victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017
This act of injustice and prejudice unravels the crucial progress made last year under Obama’s administration, where it was decided that transgender people could serve openly in the military. Trump’s fallacious reasoning is that the medical costs and financial burden that transgender people place upon the military would be too much for the government to handle, thus they will not be allowed to serve anymore.
In truth, the imaginary financial burden that transgender people apparently incur is not rooted in reality at all.
For example, a study done by the RAND corporation found that transgender people in the military would have “minimal impact on readiness and health care costs”. To make this point even clearer, projected costs would only experience a 0.04-0.13% increase in spending. Even from a purely economic perspective, the transgender community in the military little to no burden, and the fact that this is even debated is a cry against humanity.
Trump is perpetuating an even worse version of “don’t ask, don’t tell” in America’s military forces and depicts little to no respect for those that risk their lives for this country.
Senator John McCain has said that, “anyone who is fit to serve, should be allowed to do so”. With this in mind, this brings us to another point of error.
Trump has decided to discriminate against the transgender population not from an economic or rational standpoint, but from a pedestal of discrimination and bigotry.
With approximately 2,450 transgender Americans currently already serving, and another 1,500-4,000 in the reserves, what does this mean for the future of our military? More importantly, what does this mean for our fellow transgender Americans risking their lives, and what does this mean for transgender citizens in the future?
Despite Trump’s repulsive decisions and actions, we must stand up for those he continues to beat down and smother under his tyranny.
We must stand up for our fellow Muslims and refugees.
We must stand up for our fellow women and mothers and children.
We must stand up for our fellow Latinxs and immigrants.
And we absolutely must stand up for our fellow transgender soldiers protecting our country.
