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
Government by Twitter. Does this mean ouster of those estimated 11,000 now serving? The insult to them from a man who used bone spurs to avoid service is monumental. Words fail.
Washington Post reporting here.
This is political, almost certainly. The Republican Party believes there’s a well of support for LGBT discrimination, particularly the T part. Forcing Democrats to criticize the decision will just help them elect still more like them. Transgender people have caused no problems, except for themselves by existing and being brutalized for it. Losing the battle on gay rights, Republicans have turned it into a men-in-the-ladies-room issue and irrational fear has proved politically rewarding.
Not that facts matter, but here’s a debunking of the dangerous bathroom myth.
PS: The cost issue cited by Trump has been studied — about $8 million a year, a Rand study said. That compares with $80 million spent each year on erectile dysfunction drugs for the military.