Transgender People No Longer Allowed to Enlist - Thoughts?

Sorry if this is a little too political, but I was curious to know what people thought about Trump's latest move: banning transgender people from enlisting in the military.



Personally, I'm not sure what I feel. I think it's a discriminatory action for sure, but I also see the point that there's already a long list of medical conditions that will prevent you from enlisting in the military - so, with body dysmorphia being one of the common symptoms/side effects for transgender people, could that be a genuine reason to bar their entry?

I think that Trump's is using 'medical costs' unlawfully here, as there is data that shows just how small these medical costs for trans people in military are, comparatively speaking.

What's everyone's thoughts on this? (And please keep it polite, I'm just trying to discuss!)

I support this decision.

As somebody who is trans (and very very proud) I have very mixed feelings about this.
I understand his reasoning, but with such a notorious anti LGBT history, I don't feel I will ever whole heart-edly support any decision he will make

I also think it's discriminatory for sure but I understand the reasoning, I'm pretty neutral about it if anything because I don't know enough about transgender people and things they go through, of course I've heard some may have things like body dysmorphia and such but I don't even know if it's so common it would be enough to exclude them. I just kind of feel bad for transgender people since they won't be able to cover surgery costs that way. I just found it kind of rude that he used the words "burdened".

My best friend in the world served in the U.S. Navy as a transgendered female. She is kind, intelligent, and passionate about our country so much so that she decided to risk her life for it. I do not support this decision.

rbell2915 said:

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Is it okay if I ask why? It seems like (from your profile) you're involved or at least very supportive of the military, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!

Lijan said:

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I see what you mean about his past with the LGBT+ community, it's hard to support something like this knowing that his heart might not be in the right place.

MayorZenia said:

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Yeah, his phrasing was rude - I'm still not sure how I feel about a president who uses Twitter as his main form of communication with America! That aside, I'm in the same boat. I know very few transgender people personally, and this is a hard thing to judge from an outside stand point.

I'm even against females serving in the infantry, which is my profession. No one really understands the ramifications of these sorts of things because it doesn't affect them. For instance, you can't have females sleeping in the same rooms as men, they need different bathrooms as well, the logistics would be completely insane. Not to mention that females are biologically not as strong as men. How can I expect you to drag or carry me if I've been shot, when I weigh about 225 lbs with just a flak jacket on?

The military works just fine. Stop trying to fix issues that aren't there.

And if they expect gender reassignment surgery while in the military? Who is going to do that, let alone pay for it? The system is already extremely full with service members and dependants that it took me four weeks just to get a physical therapy appointment. If funds to do these types of surgeries are taken from the national defense budget, you're essentially taking ammunition out of my rifle, fuel out of our tanks, and missiles off our aircraft just for these surgeries. It's wrong.

The military shouldn't be a social experiment/playground when you have so much at stake.

rbell2915 said:

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Really good opinion! I definitely see what you're saying and where you're coming from, especially since you have experience. If you don't mind my asking, is every branch of the military trained in combat? (I don't know a whole lot about the military)

Transgender people are already facing trouble in Texas when the bathroom bill passed in the senate. Now they can't serve in the military? This was a bad decision made by Tronald Dump.

Thank you, and that's okay! Honestly, I'm not too sure. For instance, the Marines require everyone to have at least 30 days of training for combat, but that's about it for most jobs. If you're in the Infantry, it's your profession so you train for combat all the time. The Army is roughly the same, I imagine.

The Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard don't fight on the ground, so most likely not.

It pisses me off. Trans people...are just people. Just like cis people. Why can't we all focus on the things we share and have in common, and not keep acting like childish morons? We are all people, and everybody deserves happiness, in my opinion.

When you enlist, you have to go through extremely thorough screening processes, they interrogate you about your physical and mental health in great detail and they give you a complete physical. There are multitudes of reasons you can be denied entry, from heart conditions and asthma, to flat fleet and marijuana usage. Should we just allow anyone to serve because they want to? To make them happy?

I like how you brought up. If someone has asthma or something, which is a disability, they shouldn't join the military and put themselves in danger. Transgender, however, is not a disablity. There is nothing wrong with being transgender, so if they want to be in the militaty, let them.

I don't know that it was brought up in terms of a disability, so much as something that could be debilitating in combat or in the field. That's why you can't enlist in the army if you have asthma - something like that could be the difference between life or death in the field. The way I see it, the less the troops are dependent on medication like hormones (or inhalers!), the easier it is for the enlisted men and women to be completely focused on the situation at hand.

I'm still not sure that I understand the transgender ban in that aside from hormones and other medications, the transitional surgery is elective and should (in my opinion) not be covered by the military in the first place. Same with cosmetic surgeries, and things like Viagra and birth control. Just my opinion though!

Adonis-Sun said:

I like how you brought up. If someone has asthma or something, which is a disability, they shouldn't join the military and put themselves in danger. Transgender, however, is not a disablity. There is nothing wrong with being transgender, so if they want to be in the militaty, let them.

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Marijuana usage isn't a disability either, but I can understand the reasoning against allowing users in the military

I have a lot of thoughts on this, but I'll spare everyone the paragraphs.

I really just want to comment on how incredibly rude the wording of Trump's tweets were and I really hope it doesn't make any trans people feel like they are a burden to society in any way.

What he says isn't the Gospel. Him being president does not mean he can be excluded from being called transphobic. He is transphobic.

But, when you consider the fact he doesn't have any respect for women in general, it doesn't really surprise me.

i do have a trans friend who i talked to about this earlier, and i would like to share his voice. since he is very educated on this topic.

he says "in all seriousness though "we can't pay for transgender medications" is an excuse for bigots to hate transgenderism as a whole. pay for that wall, and pay for trump's countless golf sessions, but its a problem once transgender health is involved."

i personally agree with this statement because remember, this decision for the reason as to "save money for things that are more important" is coming from a man who spent 10mil tax payer dollars on vacation in less than 30 days of becoming president in comparison to our last president who spent 12mil a year.

back to what my friend said "Not to mention that most transgender people, believe it or not, actually pay out of pocket for their hormones and surgeries. FtM + MtF surgeries that take insurance are hand to find as is, and even if they do, they don't cover much. Hormones are not as costly as you would think. Hormones literally only cost 50 dollars MAX for a monthly supply."

"And it makes 0 sense to say trans people are ineligible and incapable of serving because gender dysphoria does not physically disable anyone."


"In fact most trans men who serve end up becoming much stronger physically than cis males because their gender dysphoria motivates them to work out harder and become stronger physically which makes them happier emotionally. If a trans person suffered so much from dysphoria they wouldn't enlist in the military in the first place. Its a mental thing."

To add on, to call it dysmorphia means to have deformed or abnormalities in the body, different from dysphoria. trans people have dysphoria NOT dysmorphia. body dysmorphia disorder aka bdd is a mental illness. anyways back to friend.

"But even if this wasn't the case, i'd be more than happy to contribute to someone's healthcare regardless of situation if they were going out there and serving our country. whether they are transgender or a cis who struggles with physical conditions, i would know that they are fully deserving of it. This is not about tax dollars, it is most certainly not about concern for anyone's mental of physical health."

i agree with this ^ if this really were about tax dollars, he wouldn't have such costly vacation, if this were about the concern for peoples health he wouldn't repeal obamacare.

anyways thats just a few thoughts.

rbell2915 said:

When you enlist, you have to go through extremely thorough screening processes, they interrogate you about your physical and mental health in great detail and they give you a complete physical. There are multitudes of reasons you can be denied entry, from heart conditions and asthma, to flat fleet and marijuana usage. Should we just allow anyone to serve because they want to? To make them happy?

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There's a difference between being screened and then deemed unable and automatically being denied due to your gender.

Edit: with this, he isn't even allowing them to try.

- - - Post Merge - - -

Corrie said:

There's a difference between being screened and then deemed unable and automatically being denied due to your gender.

Edit: with this, he isn't even allowing them to try.

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The military declines admission to any other person requiring ongoing medical treatment, such as those with diabetes that require ongoing insulin treatment, or someone with ADHD and bipolar disorders that require ongoing medical treatments. So if these people are denied entry in the military then how would it be fair to allow anyone that requires ongoing medical treatment entry into the military?

The military should NOT and does NOT allow ANY person who is in need of ongoing medical treatment to enter the military, hormone therapy or otherwise.