President Donald Trump is a man of action. There is no doubt he loves the military and has made this amply clear many times. He has now taken a far reaching step that runs contrary to popular thought. The president on Wednesday announced that he had banned Transgender People from serving in the US military “in any capacity.” He has justified this ban on the “medical costs and disruption” the entry of transgender into the military would entail. BBC has reported this news.
Trump tweets
The US military is an elite organization, perhaps among the best in the world.
The generals who have to lead troops in battle were against inducting transgender people into the military. They may have had their own reasons for this, but the fact is transgender people were unwelcome in the armed forces.
The president has announced that he consulted his generals and military experts, who advised against the induction of transgender people into the army. Trump tweeted on twitter his opinion that inducting Transgender individuals would mean that the military will be losing its focus on a victory in battle. It would be burdened with extraneous matters like medical costs and other disruptions that could take place.
House debate
The House had earlier failed to pass an amendment that would ban transgender individuals in the military from having their medical costs related to them being funded by military health care plans.
Many senators including Rep Vicky Hartley had authored an amendment which called funding of transgender service members for medical treatment as a "misuse of our precious defense dollars.” The amendment had been voted down on July 14. Perhaps this was the cue for Trump to act.
Roll back of Obama policy
The new policy announced by Trump rolls back another legacy of the erstwhile President Obama.
He allowed transgender people to serve in the military. This was last October, and the then Defence Secretary Ashley Carter had given the military up to May this year to work out their induction and other matters. After Trump had taken over, it was always on the cards that the policy will be reviewed, though during the election campaign he promised to "fight for" LGBT Americans.
Last word
A hint as to what would happen was given by General Mattis, who in a statement last month had said that the Pentagon was going to give the military another 6 months to conduct a review whether transgender people would impact the efficacy of the military. General Mattis is a professional soldier and his views do have a meaning. Trump has supported the armed forces and what has been decided is perhaps the best way forward.
