President Donald Trump announced on Twitter on Wednesday morning that he is reversing President Barack Obama’s directive allowing those who identify as transgender into the military.
In three consecutive tweets, he said, “After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military will entail. Thank you.”
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
At the time of this writing, there is no executive order or press release available at WhiteHouse.gov. The Department of Defense has not released an official statement either.
The policy under President Obama that announced last summer by then Secretary of Defense Carter Ash allowed transgender individuals to openly serve, as well as, transition while in the military. It also included training for service members. The policy also stated that the services would be responsible for the medical treatment and care for transgendered service members which meant paying for treatments such as hormone replacement therapy and sex change operations.
Some studies have shown the cost of those services would be minimal, but the troubling aspect of the Obama directive was the idea of taxpayers paying for elective treatments that many health insurance providers don’t cover.
Many military members and civilian employees objected to having to participate in LGBT training based upon their religious beliefs and conscientious objections.
Last month the Department of Defense announced it was delaying the implementation of President Obama’s directive by six months.
Conservative groups praised the decision.
“Social experimentation has absolutely no place in the military. The most important thing Washington, D.C. can do in regard to our troops is to ensure proper readiness and safeguard morale. President Trump is right to make this decision, and we support him one hundred percent,” Terry Schilling, executive director of American Principles Project, said.
“I applaud President Trump for making America safe again,” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. “The military is a lethal weapon designed to protect America and our allies. It is not a social club, a social experimentation petri dish, or ClubMed. The focus should be military readiness and unit cohesion. The President has kept his promise to return to military priorities by not continuing the ‘transgender’ policy that undermines unit cohesion, preparedness, and morale. The duty of military officers is to appropriately lead and prepare their personnel to serve and protect, and they cannot do that when there is confusion, dysfunction, and safety issues within the barracks.”
LGBTQ activists say that President Trump broke his promise.
“President Trump promised to protect the transgender community. As President, he said he was ‘respectful and supportive of LGBTQ rights’ and would ‘protect the community from violence and oppression.’ But President Trump has broken his promise and, coupled with his administration’s efforts to roll back protections for transgender students in our nation’s public schools, he is developing an undeniable pattern of anti-gay and anti-transgender policy while in office,” Tyler Deaton, senior advisor for the American Unity Fund, said in a released statement.
Update: J.R. Salzman, a freelance writer who is an Iraq vet and wounded warrior, responded to this news on Twitter. (Language warning)
https://twitter.com/jrsalzman/status/890233643179716608
https://twitter.com/jrsalzman/status/890234118281101312
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