President Trump has, once again, managed to anger many Americans with a series of tweets this past Wednesday.
In these tweets, Trump said that transgender individuals will not be allowed to serve "in any capacity" in the U.S. military. He cited the transgender community's medical costs and disruption as the reason behind this ban.
Are these reasons really founded in fact?
First of all, as easy as it is to hate Donald Trump, try not to forget that transgender people were not allowed to join the military during the Obama Administration either. Currently serving transgender personnel were allowed to retain their positions, but transgender civilians were not allowed to enlist. So, this is not entirely a new rule.
What this announcement did affect, however, was the military's plan on removing this disqualification. This removal was supposed to take place earlier this year but a six-month stay delayed its occurrence, leaving it in the hands of the Trump Administration. That is why these tweets are relevant.
So why the ban? Is this a case of plain discrimination, or are there real medical concerns here?
It is undeniable that if a transgender individual opts to undergo hormone replacement therapy and gender-reassignment surgery, there are high costs involved. As this is regarded as an elective surgery, the military should not be expected to pay for such medical treatment. A transgender individual should also take into consideration when they are going to first begin their treatments or surgery so they have full time to recover before enlisting.
Let's move from physical health to mental health. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and Williams Institute states that transgender individuals are at a much higher risk of suicide than the general public; 41 percent of trans people make an attempt at one point in their life compared to 4.6 percent of the general public. In fact, "transsexualism" is considered a psychosexual disorder by the U.S. Department of Defense.
Whether or not you think classifying being transgender as a mental disorder is correct or not, it is true that transgender individuals are far more likely to suffer from mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression. With both the physical health issues, such as acclimating to hormone replacement, and the mental health issues that can accompany transgender individuals, it is not surprising that the U.S. military is hesitant to fully enlist them into the armed forces.
However, we cannot allow the type of blanket ban that Trump is currently proposing. If a transgender individual can pass all physical and mental health tests that are required of other enlistees, there's no reason they should not be accepted into the military.
It is true that serving in the military is not a right but a service, and as such, not everyone is going to be considered fit to join, gender identity aside. The military is not an equal-opportunity employer.
The fact of the matter is the military has to discriminate in order to select only those who they deem able to engage in the tasks that are required of military personnel. However, if a transgender individual is able to perform just as well as any other individual and has no extra medical bills, they should be allowed the honor to serve.