Transgender People were welcome to serve in the U.S armed forces until a new memo bans them from serving in the military. The memo was signed by US President Donald Trump on Friday. The said ban was lifted during the Obama administration, but now it has been restored. It instructs the Department of Defense to stop recruiting transgender people in the military.

Trump thinks transgender ban in the military is best for U.S Armed Forces

The memo does not only ban transgender people in the military, but it also commands Pentagon to cut off the budget for gender reassignment surgeries in the armed forces.

According to a CNN report, a White House official said that the president talked about LGBT rights even before he signed the memo. However, he gave the highest consideration to national security, the source said. He believed that transgender people can no longer serve in any capacity. The U.S president saw the tremendous medical costs a big problem, which is caused by the transgender people in the military.

The outrage of the LGBT community

On August 9, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and the GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) contested the ban by jointly filing a federal suit on behalf of five transgender people in the service. On Friday, they released a statement that condemned the memo, calling it brazen and unfounded.

It attacks transgender service members who are very committed to the US Armed Forces.

NCLR legal director Shannon Minter told reporters that the US military already has existing standards as well as effective systems in place, which are designed to enlist people who are qualified and fit to become US soldiers. He believes that the ban on transgender people in the military is politically motivated, and not a Military Policy.

The ban will only weaken the country’s military defense, Minter said.

Jennifer Levi, the GLAD Transgender Rights Project director, thinks that the president’s policy is apparently unreasonable and unfair to the transgender people who risk their lives to defend the American people, including those who drafted this policy.

Will the ban be lifted?

GLAD and NCLR will file a motion in Washington district court. They hope that the ban will be lifted as soon as possible because the country faces external threats. The transgender community has made it public that they are willing to serve the nation at any cost.
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