President Elect Trumps War on LBGTQ Rights Marches Forward With Potential Dismissal of 15K Trans Troops

President elect Trump proposes a Military purge beginning with 15,000 trans troops and officers. This weekend, reports emerged that Donald Trump has begun planning for an Executive Order that would reinstate and expand upon his first administration’s ban on transgender military service members. And while nothing is certain and no concrete policy has been put forward, the potential for this executive action is stoking devastating uncertainty for transgender people across the country.

As the United States military continues to fall short of its recruitment targets, the discriminatory ban, as reported, could terminate the employment of an estimated 15,000 people, deeming them “unfit to serve”–despite the fact that they meet every qualification. The United States military is the largest employer of transgender people in the country. Recent studies show that transgender people are twice as likely as the general population to serve in the military.

Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson issued the following statement:

Banning thousands of qualified transgender service members– who meet every qualification to serve and have been serving without incident positively contributing to the nation’s defense for nearly a decade– would make our country less safe, and is nothing more than transphobia masquerading as policy. The United States military, tasked with defending our country and protecting all Americans, should be built on readiness and qualifications, not bias, hate and discrimination. Transgender service members are patriots who have proven their commitment, skill and dedication to protecting this country. But Donald Trump is making clear that his administration will go all in on hatred and division at the expense of our military’s readiness, our standing as a leader on the world stage, and the dignity of those who have made the courageous decision to serve their country. Our military must be able to recruit the best candidates, retain the highly-trained service members who have already sacrificed so much for their country, and every qualified patriot should be able to serve openly, free of discrimination. Transgender people exist and belong and in every part of our society, and we stand with these service members and will take swift action to push back against this dangerous and discriminatory ban. Any person who meets the qualifications should be able to serve.”

As reported in The Times of London, this proposed ban would be disastrous for military readiness and the country’s safety, according to the HRC.

Trump transition team spokesperson Karoline Leavitt did not deny the accuracy of the reports when emailed but said that "no decisions on this issue have been made."

Typically, medical discharges require that service members go through rounds of hearings before medical professionals who determine whether a condition prevents them from fully serving in the military -- a process that can last months. The sudden nature of the proposed discharges could mean that service members near key milestones for benefits would be booted from the military before becoming eligible. Some of those service duration-based benefits include the level of retirement pay they may receive, as well as whether they can receive help paying for college or other education benefits.

Transgender service members have faced a wildly inconsistent policy landscape over the past 8 years, going from an Obama-era decision to allow them to serve openly, to a reversal during Trump's first term and litigation. If president elect Trump proceeds with this military purge it may very well be disruptive and place a risk to national security. 

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