Trump bans transgender people from serving in U.S. military ‘in any capacity’
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Sara Snyder, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — President Trump said Wednesday that the U.S. military will not accept transgender troops into its ranks or allow them to serve in any capacity, reversing a policy that began under the Obama administration.
In a series of morning tweets, Trump said that, after consulting “with my generals and military experts,” the U.S. government “will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military.”
The U.S. military, he said, “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.”
It’s unclear how the announcement will affect the estimated 6,000 transgender troops who are already in the military. Under the policy announced in July 2016, those troops were allowed to serve openly. Prior to that the military discharged them for medical reasons.
It’s also unclear whether a series of tweets constitute a presidential directive, and whether Trump must sign documents to make the new policy effective.
The decision immediately drew criticism from Democratic lawmakers and civil rights advocates.
“The president is sanctioning discrimination,” said Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., speaking on MSNBC.
On Twitter, Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe said, “this Trump anti-LGBT move is an affront to human dignity and military success. A real twofer.”
Some Republicans also criticized the policy reversal. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., tweeted that “no American, no matter their sexual orientation or gender identity, should be prohibited from honor + privilege of serving our nation #LGBT.”
Other GOP lawmakers deferred comment.
“I don’t really respond to a daily basis to tweets that are coming out,” said Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, speaking at a forum sponsored by The Washington Post. “We’ll look into it fully.”
Under Trump and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, the Pentagon delayed implementation of a key portion of the Obama administration’s plan: requiring the services to being accepting and recruiting new officers and enlisted troops. The Army, Air Force and Marine Corps requested more time to implement the policy, saying they needed time to study the effects of accepting transgender troops.
However, the Pentagon commissioned a report last year by the non-partisan RAND Corp. on transgender troops. Their research found that treating transgender troops would cost as much as $8 million per year and have a negligible effect on the military’s readiness to fight.
Last month, the Army had begun compulsory transgender sensitivity training for soldiers and civilian employees.
Some members of Congress have also tried to limit spending on transgender troops in this year’s legislation authorizing military spending.
On Tuesday, in a statement to USA TODAY, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen urged the acceptance of transgender troops by the military, saying that previous policies that prevented gay and lesbian troops from serving damaged the military.
The decision is likely to have political implications.
Trump sought the support of LGBT voters during last year’s election against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. In tweet sent in June of 2016, he told the LGBT community that “I will fight for you while Hillary brings in more people that will threaten your freedoms and beliefs.”
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