Second Trans Troops Ban Rumored
Discount Biff Tannen and evil buffoon Donald Trump may issue a second, even worse ban on transgender Americans serving their country.
by Alyssa Steinsiek
Out of nearly three million service members (if you include civilian personnel, anyway!), the incoming Trump administration may be gearing up to unfairly target 15,000 employees of the United States military for termination over the simple fact that they are transgender.
Target them a second time, that is.
Yes, you may be experiencing deja vu as rumors abound that Donald Trump, entering his second term as president of the United States a mere two months from now, will be issuing an Executive Order (he really likes those, it turns out) to both ban transgender Americans from enlisting in the military, but also fire the more than 15,000 out service members currently serving their nation.
Trump’s prior history with banning trans service members is a bit messy, to say the least. In July of 2017, believing that he could issue decrees through social media like the lamest king to ever live, tweeted that transgender people could no longer serve in the US military. Despite claiming to have consulted with his Generals and “military experts,” the Pentagon was, apparently, “caught off guard” by this move. Despite multiple legal battles to prevent the ban, it officially went into effect in April of 2019.
President Biden overturned this ban and ensured that the records of affected service members would be corrected almost as soon as entered office, but now that Trump’s returning to the White House (sometimes, when he isn’t busy golfing at Mar-a-Lago), he has the opportunity to issue the ban a second time. And while Trump’s first ban only disallowed new enlistees who had received treatment for a diagnosis of gender-affirming care, it’s entirely possible that a new ban could enact much harsher terms, forcing thousands of trans service members out of the Armed Forces entirely.
While Trump transition spokesperson and incoming White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Independent that rumors about a second ban were pure speculation, and that those propagating them “have no idea what they’re talking about,” unnamed sources speaking to Alistair Dawber at The Times insist that the ban is real and could be put into effect as soon as Trump is in office. They also stated that “some people who will be affected are in very senior positions,” meaning that service members with years or even decades of experience could be ousted by Trump.
Rachel Branaman, executive director of Modern Military Association of America, an organization of LGBTQ+ American service members and allies who champion the rights of queer military personnel, said that the ban “would undermine the readiness of the military and create an even greater recruitment and retention crisis” when speaking to The Times. Indeed, only the Marine Corps is currently meeting its recruitment goals, with other branches failing to drum up enough enlistees to meet quotas.
“Abruptly discharging 15,000-plus service members, especially given that the military’s recruiting targets fell short by 41,000 recruits last year, adds administrative burdens to war fighting units, harms unit cohesion, and aggravates critical skill gaps,” Branaman went on to say. “There would be a significant financial cost, as well as a loss of experience and leadership that will take possibly 20 years and billions of dollars to replace.”
Trump and his cohort would have you believe that transgender service members cost the military an excess of money, or in some way compromise military readiness. It’s plainly absurd that such a small number of troops could weaken the Armed Forces as a whole merely by existing and receiving typical medical care, and as far as costs are concerned, you should know that the Pentagon spends ten times as much annually on the other kind of little blue pill as it does on transgender service members' transitional care.
In the face of such reckless evil, I’ll say what others may not be bold enough to say: I believe transgender Americans have as much right to serve their country as cisgender service members do the right to an erection lasting no more than four hours.
Alyssa Steinsiek is a professional writer who spends too much time playing video games!
