US President Donald Trump has banned transgender people from serving in the military “in any capacity.”
Trump, 71, made the abrupt declaration in a series of posts on Twitter on Wednesday, saying he had consulted with generals and military experts. He cited “tremendous medical costs and disruption” as the driving force behind the sweeping policy decision.
“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 US military,” he tweeted.
“Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail.”
It’s unclear what impact his decision will have on transgender people currently serving in the armed forces.
Protesters have already begun to swarm the Capitol, calling on President Trump to reverse his ban on transgender Americans from serving in the military.
The decision stands in conflict with a Defense Department-commissioned study conducted last year by the RAND Corporation.
The study, which identified between 1320 and 6630 active transgender officers in the US military as of last year, found that only a fraction of those officers — between 29 and 129 — would seek gender-transition-related medical treatment.
The authors concluded that “even in the most extreme scenario” healthcare spending would increase by just 0.13-percent — that’s roughly $8.4 million out of $6.2 billion.
To put that in perspective, the military reportedly spends $41.6 million annually on Viagra — a whopping five times the estimated spending on transition-related healthcare for transgender personnel.
Trump’s announcement was immediately met with confusion and outrage on social media, with the likes of Ellen Degeneres and James Corden stepping forward to attack the “cruel” decision.
Chelsea Manning, transgender activist and U.S. military whistleblower, who is a transgender woman, called the decision “cowardice,” while Laverne Cox, also a transgender woman, thanked trans people for their service.
The announcement stands at odds with a previous tweet from Trump, in which he vowed to support the LGBT community.
“Thank you to the LGBT community! I will fight for you while Hillary brings in more people that will threaten your freedoms and beliefs,” he wrote.
The tweet was sent out in June 2016 — before the election.
