CIVIL RIGHTS
Trump Steps Up War on Transgender Rights Sudden tweet storm about military service catches Pentagon, Congress, America by surprise PREZ TWEETS SPARK ALARM, OUTRAGE, PUSHBACK
CHRISTIAN MILES
Staten Island transgender activist Bryan John Ellicott addressed a July 26 Times Square protest rally. CHRISTIAN MILES
BY PAUL SCHINDLER
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n a series of three tweets on July 26, President Donald Trump announced his intention to bar transgender Americans from serving openly in the military. At about 9 a.m. that day, tweeting on his personal account @realDonaldTrump, the president wrote: “After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow……,” then, “… Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming…..,” and finally, .”…victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you.” The statement marked a sharp u-turn from the policy announced on June 30 of last year by the Obama administration’s defense secretary, Ash Carter, who said that open service by transgender enlistees would roll out in stages over the following year. When the anti-gay Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy was overturned in late 2010, the military spent nearly 10 months preparing for the
transition to open service by gay and lesbian service members. The first clear sign that the Obama/ Carter plan might be turned back came when Defense Secretary Jim Mattis announced on June 30 — one day prior to its planned final implementation — that he was giving military leaders another six months to evaluate how transgender service would affect the “readiness and lethality” of the armed forces. In recent months, as well, some conservative Republicans on Capitol Hill have tried to block transgender service, suggesting either an outright ban or a prohibition on funds spent on medical expenses for transition-related care. That second idea was recently defeated in a close vote in the House. The measure’s sponsor, Missouri Republican Vicky Hartzler, had claimed that medical costs associated with open transgender service would total $1.35 billion over 10 years. In fact, in a study completed last summer, the Rand Corporation, a think tank that works on militaryrelated policy issues, had estimated the annual incremental cost at between $2.4 and $8.4 million annually, a fraction of Hartzler’s claim.
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Rand estimated that out of 1.3 million service members there are currently between 1,320 and 6,630 transgender soldiers. Those personnel presumably are now at risk for harassment and discharge under Trump’s new policy. The Rand report, commissioned by the Department of Defense, stated that “only a small portion of service members would likely seek gender transition-related medical treatments that would affect their deployability or health care costs,” and estimated that each year between 30 and 140 new hormone treatments would be initiated and between 25 and 130 gender transition-related surgeries would be utilized. Focusing on the question of “readiness,” Rand noted that in 2015 there were 102,500 non-deployable soldiers in the Army alone, 50,000 of them technically in active service, while transgender service would add only 10 to 130 to the number of personnel with reduced deployability. Rand reported that 18 nations — including Israel, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia — allow open transgender military service.
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TWEETS, continued on p.11
Army Captain Sue Fulton, who leads Spart*a, also spoke on July 26.
he very first reaction to President Donald Trump’s July 26 early morning announcement about transgender military service was alarm. In a threepart tweet, the president began with the phrase, “After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow…….” It was another nine minutes until he continued that thought, and numerous reports indicate that Pentagon officials held their breath waiting to see what might come next from their impulsive commander-in-chief. When it became clear that Trump was unexpectedly reversing a 2016 policy aimed achieving full open service for the up to 6,600 transgender military personnel as well as future recruits, prominent conservative congressional Republicans were among the first critics. One of the Capitol Hill’s leading authorities on the military, Senator John McCain, who chairs the Armed Services Committee, criticized Trump’s
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abrupt policy shift offered without any explanation, saying, “The president’s tweet this morning regarding transgender Americans in the military is yet another example of why major policy announcements should not be made via Twitter.” Orrin Hatch, a conservative Senate veteran from Utah, told USA Today, “Transgender people are people, and deserve the best we can do for them. I look forward to getting much more information and clarity from our military leaders about the policy the President tweeted today.” The Des Moines Register quoted a spokesperson for Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, a 20-year military veteran, as saying though she does not support the military paying for gender reassignment procedures that “Americans who are qualified and can meet the standards to serve in the military should be afforded that opportunity.” Arguing that transgender Americans already serve in the military and that “excommunicating”
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PUSHBACK, continued on p.11
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