In the past few years, Trump has made it very clear where he stands on a variety of issues. During his campaign, he claimed that he would be inclusive towards the LGBTQ+ community, but since then, he has done everything but. Between his choices of representatives with a history of discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community, such as Vice President Mike Pence or Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and his clear lack of respect for protections for the community, such as his choice to rescind protections for transgender youth in schools, Trump has made it clear where he stands. Perhaps one of his more recent assaults on the community lies in his attack on transgender military troops.
Last year, Trump attempted to set a ban on transgender people serving in the military, but the ban was temporarily blocked by lower courts. Recently, the Supreme Court put some of these injunctions on hold, and there is currently one remaining nationwide injunction in Stone v. Trump.
Trump has used flawed reasoning to discriminate against a minority group (again), for reasons that are likely more political than anything. The rationale for this ban involves two main points: cost and readiness.
According to Vox and The Washington Post, years of study have gone into the Obama-era policy that allowed transgender people to serve openly in the military. Each cites a 2016 study by the Rand Corporation, a Defense-Department-commissioned study, which puts the annual cost of transgender health care between $2.4 million and $8.4 million per year, increasing the military’s health care budget by 0.04 to 0.13 percent. To put this number in perspective, Military Times gives another estimate: $84 million per year goes into Viagra and similar medications for troops. If that alone was not enough to convince you, the cost to replace the estimated 15,500 transgender troops would be far more than Trump could ever bargain for.
Trump also claimed that trans troops would affect the “readiness” or ability of the military to win wars or serve the people. However, Vox says, there have been openly serving trans troops since 2016, when the original ban was removed by the Obama administration, and this has not negatively affected morale or unit readiness. According to Military Times, each of the four chiefs of staff have confirmed that openly serving trans military personnel have not negatively impacted unit cohesion or military readiness in any way.
This ban could lead to trans troops staying in the closet, even when it negatively affects their service or mental health. It could lead to trans troops being discharged or abused, affecting their mental health, their economic well-being, and the well-being of their families. In the end, this is simply another way for Trump to give off a clear message: LGBTQ+ people are not welcome in his version of America, and they never will be.
