Trump’s New Transgender Military Ban Falls Just Short Of Reclassifying It As A Mental Illness
After months of trying to pass his discriminatory Transgender Military ban and having it rejected by the US Court of Appeals as well as four federal judges who have refused to allow the ban to go into effect, President Donald Trump leveraged loophole language and medical terminology to finally enforce it.
One would presume that the Trump administration has more to worry about than Transgender patriots serving in the military. Despite allegations of extramarital affairs and sexual assult, Russian collusion and obstruction of justice, and more that 37 White house staffers being fired or resigning amidst controversy since his inauguration, Trump hasn’t taken the barrel of his gun from the backs of Transgender people since he took office.
In the 13 months that Trump has been president, the onslaught of attacks of Transgender individuals has been relentless. Here’s a quick trip recap:
January 2016: Trump is joined in the White House with ex Indiana Governor, Mike Pence. Pence, while acting as Governor, created and signed into law The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which was only voted on after they kicked out members of the Democratic party before voting into law. The radically religious then-Governor Pence has waged a war against LGBT Americans since throwing his hat into the political ring. In 2006. He stood in support of a constitutional amendment that would have defined marriage as between a man and a woman. While speaking as the head of The Republican Study Commitee, which is a group of roughly 100 of the most conservative members in the House of Representatives, he said; “Societal collapse was always brought about following an advent of the deterioration of marriage and family.” Pence also called being gay a choice and said keeping gays from marrying was not discrimination, but an enforcement of “God’s idea.”
Pence also voted against the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, saying “We ought not to use the American military as a backdrop for social experimentation…”
He also opposed President Obama’s directive that allowed Transgender students to use the bathrooms that aligned with their gender identity.
December 2016: Trump appoints notoriously anti-LGBT Dr. Ben Carson to head The Department of Housing and Urban Development. Carson has a long documented history of equating gay people with bestiality and the North American Man/Boy Love Association: “Marriage is between a man and a woman. No group, be they gays, be they NAMBLA, be they people who believe in bestiality, it doesn’t matter what they are. They don’t get to change the definition.” He said. Since his appointment he has attacked homeless Transgender people claiming they make women in shelters “uncomfortable.”
February 2017: Trump signed an executive order redacting Obama era protections for Trans identifying students in schools.
February 2017: Trump appoints anti-LGBT Millionaire Betsy DeVos to the post of Secretary of Education. She refuses adhere to federal law that forbids government money from funding schools that discriminate against LGBT Students.
July 2017: Trump announces his first attempt to ban Transgender Americans from serving in the military, via twitter.
October 2017: Trump’s Attorney General, Jeff Sessions announces that the civil rights law that prohibits discrimination in the workplace does not apply to Transgender employees.
December 2017: Trump signed an order banning the word “Transgender” in any communications from the Center for Disease Control. The very agency tasked with saving and protecting the lives of the most vulnerable. Also bands the word “Vulnerable.”
January 2018: Trump establishes a new branch within the Department of Health and Human Services formally called “The Conscience and Religious Freedom Division, which allows medical care providers to deny treatment to LGBT citizens in need, citing religious or moral objection.
March 2018: Trump enforces revised Transgender Military ban.
The new Transgender Military Ban, which is different than the original one declared on twitter, only in that it changes is language to selectively discriminate against Transgender women and men and prevent them from enrolling based on their biological gender versus their actual gender identity.
The policy says this:
- A Transgender Individual may not serve in the military if they desire to pursue or have had any medical treatment, medications or surgical procedures relevant to gender transition, or…
- If they have a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria.
This disqualifies almost all Transgender identifying individuals immediately.
The new policy will allow enlistees who:
- Have been stable for 36 consecutive months in their biological sex prior to enrolling.
This means that the potential service members must not exhibit any “Transgender symptoms” for at least 3 years prior to enlisting and are demonstrably comfortable in their birth assigned gender.
2. Do not require a change of gender.
Basically, it sets out to do exactly what it did in the first place- Ban Transgender people from serving in the US military. It just manipulates the language to reference medical treatments, medications, surgical interventions, gender dysphoria, and implies that anyone NOT comfortable in their biological sex is unstable.
The policy essentially delegitimizes Transgender men and women, and demonizes all Transgender people who seek gender affirming surgery or take hormones in pursuit of transition — to any degree or effect. It reaches to backhandedly summarize Transgender people as sick, ill and unfit due to their gender identity without actually stating it.
This policy, thankfully, exempts Transgender personnel who already enlisted during President Obama’s tenure while his protections were in place, limiting the damage to their job security and family benefits.
There is no legitimate purpose to this ban, beyond the erasure of Transgender people from public service. Historically, we have seen that neither gender, race, economic status, gender identity nor sexual preference are adequate or reasonable measures of performance or potential in any situation.
For comparison sake, nations that allow Transgender identifying people to serve in their military branches include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
The United States of America spends more money on its military activities than any other nation in the world, yet cites medical care for Transgender service people as an economic “burden” and their presence a “Distraction” from cooperative missions. In order to support more money for Military purposes, the Trump/Pence administration has cut funding to most public services, including welfare for the impoverished, healthcare, environmental protection agencies, public school education, arts and culture, women’s resource centers and National Parks.
In true Dictator fashion, he’s also planning a self-aggrandizing Military Parade that could cost taxpayers up to 50 million dollars.
