In a statement within the past hour, direct from his personal Twitter account, President Donald Trump shattered his predecessor’s grand social experiment 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 transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military,” he wrote. “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.”
President Barack Obama had lifted the ban on transgender service members and allowed them to serve openly. But recently, Secretary of Defense James Mattis delayed a Department of Defense directive that would have allowed for new transgender recruits and cadets to openly join the military, pending a review.
The House of Representatives has already adopted the National Defense Authorization Act, which allows for funding for “gender reassignment” surgeries. The Family Research Council has openly called for that funding to be removed, but the president’s directive banning transgender military service could preclude that budgetary discussion.
It’s unclear how the president’s announcement will impact the current service members who have been openly serving as transgender for the past year. {eoa}
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