Donald Trump has announced he will not allow any transgender people to serve in the U.S. military.
He blames the ‘medical costs and disruption’ that transgender people would cause.
In a series of three Tweets, President Trump said the medical costs would be ‘tremendous’, and ends his tweets with a ‘Thank you’.
He Tweeted:
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 tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender (sic) in the military would entail. Thank you
Transgender people will not be allowed to serve within the military in any capacity, with Trump calling transgender people a ‘burden’.
This is a reversal of a policy introduced by President Obama who loosened restrictions on allowing transgender people to participate in military activity.
Trump’s Defence Secretary, Jim Mattis, had confirmed that the issue was under review just weeks ago.
The office was allegedly giving the military six months to assess whether allowing transgender people to serve in a military capacity would affect the U.S. military’s ‘readiness and lethality’.
The military asked for a two year delay to this process, but this was apparently denied.
The details of this are as-yet unknown, and it is unclear whether this ban will affect people currently serving in the military.
