Trump Bans Transgender People From Military, Citing Medical Costs Among Reasons
The announcement comes just as a storm over whether taxpayer money should pay for gender transition and hormone therapy for transgender service members was brewing on the Hill, threatening to derail a $790 billion defense and security spending package that includes funds for President Trump's border wall.
The New York Times:
Trump Says Transgender People Will Not Be Allowed In The Military
President Trump abruptly announced a ban on transgender people serving in the military on Wednesday, blindsiding his defense secretary and Republican congressional leaders with a snap decision that reversed a year-old policy reviled by social conservatives. Mr. Trump made the declaration on Twitter, saying that American forces could not afford the “tremendous medical costs and disruption” of transgender service members. He said he had consulted generals and military experts, but Jim Mattis, the defense secretary, was given only a day’s notice about the decision. (Davis and Cooper, 7/26)
The Washington Post:
Trump Announces That He Will Ban Transgender People From Serving In The Military
Trump’s decision comes two weeks after the House rejected an amendment to the annual defense policy bill that would have blocked the Pentagon from offering gender transition therapies to active-duty service members. Twenty-four Republicans joined 190 Democrats voting to reject the measure. But conservative lawmakers — many of them members of the House Freedom Caucus — had threatened to withhold support for a spending bill if Congress did not act to prohibit the Pentagon from paying for the procedures. The impasse broadly threatened government spending, but most importantly for Trump, it potentially held up money that had been appropriated for the border wall between the United States and Mexico, a key promise he had made during the campaign. (Phillip, Gibbons-Neff and DeBonis, 7/26)
Los Angeles Times:
Transgender Veterans Outraged By Trump's Sudden Ban On Military Service
Carla Lewis enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1990. But the next year, after a background check for a top-secret position revealed that she had seen a counselor for gender identity issues, she was honorably discharged for what her military papers described as “Conditions That Interfere With Military Service — Not Disability — Mental Disorders.” (Pearce, 7/26)
KQED:
‘You Don’t Just Quit’: California Hits Back At Trump’s Transgender Military Ban
President Donald Trump’s announcement early Wednesday that transgender people would no longer be allowed to serve was met with swift reaction and strong opposition among California’s transgender military community and congressional delegation. Trump made the announcement in a series of tweets, concluding with: “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.” (Leitsinger, 7/26)
Stat:
Trump Says It's Too Pricey To Have Transgender Troops. Here's The Truth
But at least two studies in recent years have found that the cost of medical care for transgender service members would be minimal. A June 2016 study from the RAND Corporation estimated that there were between 1,320 and 6,630 transgender active-duty service members — out of 1.3 million service members in total — and noted that not all of them would seek treatment related to gender transitioning. The study also estimated that the cost associated with medical care for gender transition would only increase military health care expenditures by between $2.4 million and $8.4 million each year — an increase of between 0.04 and 0.13 percent. (Joseph, 7/26)