In banning transgendered individuals from serving in the US military, Donald Trump has given license to all those that seek to exclude us from public life, argues Emily Brothers
‘The United States government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the US military,’ Donald Trump tweeted last week. It was a cynical move to divide America for political expediency.
The powerful president initiating a backlash against a disadvantaged minority is no different from the bully in the playground taunting the trans kid for being different. They both portray the ugly truth of prejudice towards trans people.
When Trump tweeted his intent to ban trans people from military service, I was perplexed. Surely he should be more preoccupied with North Korean missiles heading towards Denver and Chicago, as well as the US’ precarious relationship with Russia.
This action says everything about the push to the right that seeks to legitimise prejudice, far more than the measured majority that upholds the values of ‘the land of the free and home of the brave.’
While feeling and looking like a soap opera, the consequences of ad hoc decisions of this kind have more profound consequences than Trump can comprehend. When your president turns on people who serve their country with great courage, immediate support will fall away from the grotesque reality show that backs prejudice. Yet in the meantime the backlash with have consequences for many trans people. Estimates of US trans military personnel range from 4,000 to 10,000. They all now face possible discharge.
These are desperate times for the Trump presidency with executive orders banning entry being overturned by courts, Republicans like John McKane opposing plans to destroy Obamacare and the bizarre comings and goings of key figures in the White House. Trump is seeking to divert attention from the serious challenges facing the US and its allies.
Whatever the motives, the backlash is felt across the trans community. People fearful of ‘coming out’ retreat, the stresses of working through transition become amplified, with many experiencing the prejudice, bullying and assault from hateful transphobic perpetrators. With just a single tweet that excludes trans people from military life, Trump opens up a pandora’s box for legitimising prejudice. Sure, Trump is not saying people should commit violence on trans people, yet he is signalling that intolerance is okay.
The president’s decision came without the Pentagon having any knowledge that Trump was to brush aside a review already in place. Perhaps we are heading into the era of presidential decrees by Twitter to launch missiles without the military command being told beforehand.
Donald Trump added in his infamous tweet that:
‘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.’
Ignoring the evidence base is the new norm. The Washington Post reported that the US military spends almost $42m a year on the erectile dysfunction medication. This is several times the total estimated cost of trans medical support which is estimated at $8.4M per year. There is no sign that viagra is to be ditched – possibly because Trump relates to it better in his misogynous world.
Social progress for minority groups typically involves one step forward, followed by more steps backward. Obama’s decision to open up military service to trans people last year was much heralded as one critical step forward. The backlash has come with Trump’s tweet to unpick that progress. Yet there is hope, as the generals do not take kindly to being ignored and increasingly see trans soldiers as one of their own. The road to inclusion is a bumpy ride, but US trans soldiers may get more entrenched in military life due to this tweet than they currently imagine. Trump’s tweet will not prevail against the reverberations it has engendered.
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Emily Brothers was parliamentary candidate for Sutton and Cheam in 2015 and London assembly candidate in 2016. She was Labour’s first transgender candidate for Westminster or devolved assembly. She tweets at @EBrothersLabour
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The made-up billion dollar figure for treating transgender members of the United States Armed Services suggests that there are already that many transgender members of the United States Armed Services. Do President Trump and his supporters wish to give that impression?
The fact of the matter is that there are between 1,320 and 6,630 transgender personnel among an active-duty force of 1.3 million. Somewhere between 30 and 140 of those might want hormone treatment, and perhaps 25 to 130 might seek gender reassignment surgery. Giving a cost of somewhere between $2.4 million and $8 million per annum.
The argument from operational effectiveness, I honestly do not know about, although again there is the question of just how few people are involved. But as to cost, the US military spends $42 million per year on Viagra. Oh, and $1.4 trillion on the useless F-35 jet that costs more than Australia’s entire defence budget while being decades out of date from day one.
Trump still cannot tell you which of his feet had the problem that prevented him from going to Vietnam. No one who served there has ever been President, although three of the last four Presidents have been the right age. The President of the United States might one day be transgender, but he or she will never have served in Vietnam. Nor in any of the wars of Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump.
Likewise, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom might one day be transgender, but he or she will never have served in any of the wars of Blair, Brown, Cameron and May. From Tom Tugendhat to Dan Jarvis, those who did so can forget it. Although no such disqualification afflicts either of Tony Blair’s elder sons, both of whom were the right age, and neither of whom has ever appeared to have any health problem. Neither of them, however, put on the uniform. Therefore, they could still, in principle, become Prime Minster. Which is nice.