In a series of blockbuster tweets this morning, President Donald trump wrote that transgender individuals won鈥檛 be allowed to serve in the U.S. military.
After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow......
鈥� Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
....Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming.....
鈥� Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
....victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you
鈥� Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
This latest Twitter fusillade raises many substantive questions, and resonates in Texas, where transgender rights are currently up for debate as the so-called "bathroom bills" make their way through the Legislature. , Capitol Hill bureau chief for the , says Trump鈥檚 announcement was a surprise to him, especially considering the Pentagon鈥檚 review over transgender people in the military was supposed to take six months.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know that many folks at the Pentagon were expecting an announcement, and certainly the rights groups that have been pushing the military for broader inclusion of transgender troops weren鈥檛 expecting this sort of reversal,鈥� Shane says.
Right now, there are about 15,000 transgender people serving in the military, but Defense Secretary James Mattis recently put a hold on any new enlistments of transgender people while the six-month review took place. Shane says that Obama-era policy allows transgender people to serve openly and receive gender-reassignment surgery and hormone therapy. Trump鈥檚 tweet appears to be an about-face to that policy.
鈥淪ecretary Mattis鈥ade a point saying that transgender troops already in the ranks wouldn鈥檛 be affected by any of this. This news from President Trump seems to undermine that, seems to say those folks won鈥檛 be allowed to serve anymore,鈥� Shane says.
It鈥檚 unclear how official Trump鈥檚 announcement is, given that it was a tweet, or how easily the military could enact it. Shane says the military can make policies that affect large groups of people, like the 鈥渄on鈥檛 ask, don鈥檛 tell鈥� policy that ended in 2011, but he says Trump was unclear in his tweet whether his policy would be a complete ban or a requirement that transgender people keep gender issues private.
Trump also argued in his tweet that the military can鈥檛 afford the supposed disruptions or medical costs related to transgender troops. But Shane says there鈥檚 limited evidence of these disruptions or that there鈥檚 been grave impact.
鈥淲e haven鈥檛 heard any issues of real morale problems, unit cohesion, transgender troops getting in fights so that鈥檚 more in the perception of folks down the road,鈥� he says.
As for medical costs, Shane says it鈥檚 been the subject of much disagreement among lawmakers in Washington. Conservatives in the House, who have been trying to reverse the Obama-era policy on transgendered people, estimate that annual surgery and hormone-therapy costs range from $150-$200 million per year. The nonprofit, global-policy think tank, Rand Corp., says the cost is closer to $8 million.
鈥淎 lot of disputes over what the real expense is gonna be related to this,鈥� Shane says.
Written by Caroline Covington.
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