President Donald Trump says the U.S. military will no longer let transgender people serve in any capacity, reversing a policy former President Barack Obama’s administration announced a year ago.
In a string of Twitter comments, Trump said that “after consultation with my Generals and military experts,” he was ending acceptance of transgender people into the country’s armed forces.
“Our military 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. Thank you,” Trump wrote.
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
FILE – US soldiers stand in formation during a military ceremony at the Storck barracks in Illesheim, Germany.
What happens now?
The Rand Corporation think tank has estimated there are 2,500 transgender active duty personnel in the U.S. military and another 1,500 reserve transgender service members, but Trump did not say what would happen to them.
Defense officials say that as many as another 250 service members are believed to be transitioning to their preferred gender.
Trump’s decision on transgender personnel came a day ahead of a deadline for the military to update its medical regulations to accommodate them.
But the Pentagon appeared to be caught off-guard by Trump’s announcement and still was listing its timetable for review of its transgender policy on its website. Later, the Defense Department said it was referring all questions about the change in policy to the White House. The Pentagon said it would “continue to work closely with the White House to address the new guidance provided by the Commander-in-Chief” and then brief military officials.
Sharp criticism
Trump’s action drew an immediate rebuke from a leading group supporting transgender rights and lawmakers who had favored last year’s policy change.
Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin said, “I know transgender service members and vets who have done more to serve their country than @realdonaldtrump has in his entire life.”
No American, no matter their sexual orientation or gender identity, should be prohibited from honor + privilege of serving our nation #LGBT
— Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (@RosLehtinen) July 26, 2017
One of the country’s most prominent transgender activists, Chelsea Manning, an Army intelligence analyst freed recently from prison for leaking classified military documents to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, said, “So not only do you want to ban trans people, now you want to throw us in prison ?? sounds familiar.” But some other former military personnel took to social media in support of Trump’s decision.
https://twitter.com/xychelsea/status/890215240461430785
A Republican lawmaker, Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, said, “No American, no matter their sexual orientation or gender identity, should be prohibited from honor + privilege of serving our nation.”
No American, no matter their sexual orientation or gender identity, should be prohibited from honor + privilege of serving our nation #LGBT
— Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (@RosLehtinen) July 26, 2017
Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, said in a tweet, “Thousands of transgender service members defend our country. They’re patriots & should be applauded not discriminated against by Pres Trump.”
Another Democrat, Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, said, “The thousands of transgender Americans serving in our #military are courage incarnate. They are patriots. And they deserve better than this.”
The thousands of transgender Americans serving in our #military are courage incarnate. They are patriots. And they deserve better than this. https://t.co/Tmr5NMgTZ0
— Senator Ben Cardin (@SenatorCardin) July 26, 2017
Pentagon policy change
In June 2016, former Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the Pentagon over the course of a year was ending what he said was its discriminatory policies against transgender people, starting with getting rid of a rule that transgender people could be involuntarily discharged from the military.
FILE – Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter attends a press conference.
Carter, in announcing the decision, said he was “confident that we have reason to be proud today of what this will mean for our military – because it is the right thing to do, and it is another step in ensuring that we continue to recruit and retain the most qualified people – and good people are the key to the best military in the world. Our military, and the nation it defends, will be stronger.”
Under Carter’s order, the military had planned to start allowing transgender people to enlist in its armed forces this year, provided they had been “stable” in their preferred gender for 18 months.
FILE – Defense Secretary Jim Mattis speaks at the Pentagon.
Ahead of Trump’s announcement, his defense chief, Jim Mattis, said recently the Pentagon would delay Carter’s order through the remainder of 2017 in order to review the impact of the shift.
“Since becoming the Secretary of Defense,” Mattis said, “I have emphasized that the Department of Defense must measure each policy decision against one critical standard: will the decision affect the readiness and lethality of the force? Put another way, how will the decision affect the ability of America’s military to defend the nation? It is against this standard that I provide the following guidance on the way forward in accessing transgender individuals into the military services.”
VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb contributed to this report
