Not content to merely spend his mornings rage-tweeting about Jeff Sessions and Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump has just announced on Twitter that the United States military will no longer welcome transgender people. They will not be allowed to serve in “any capacity,” not in combat, not at support staff, not as translators, not as medics, not as doctors, not as nurses, not as mathematicians, not as engineers.
After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow……
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017
….Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017
….victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017
Tweets are not an executive order, although I’m sure an executive order will be issued. It was only in the past decade that the Department of Defense began to allow out-and-proud gay, lesbian and bisexual people to serve openly in the military. The issue of transgender people serving – openly or in the closet, as it were – has been a fluid situation over that same time period, with former SecDef Chuck Hagel loosening the rules and regulations about service of openly transgender people. Long story short, before today, transgender people could be recruited and serve openly in any capacity, although they were likely to run into a bureaucratic mess if they ever sought promotion.
As for Donald Trump’s tweets… yeah, he’s a contempible a–hole. I always thought that of all of his deplorable stances, he was probably going to be not-terrible on LGBT issues. I was wrong. To be fair, I knew he was wrong as soon as he made Mike Pence his running mate. This idea is ALL Pence.
Some reactions:
He's going to lean in to culture war the more threatened he feels and it will get far far uglier.
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) July 26, 2017
Transgender Americans now in the military have already displayed more courage than their current commander in chief, who never served.
— Jonathan Capehart (@CapehartJ) July 26, 2017
I served on active duty in the U.S. Military. Exclusion of Transgender Americans by @POTUS is not based on facts, it is based on bigotry. https://t.co/DgURRGnMVu
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) July 26, 2017
2/ Note that RAND estimates around 4K transgender Americans already serve in military and reserves
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) July 26, 2017
so if trump ignores all of ivanka’s supposed interests and doesn’t listen to any of her advice, what exactly is she doing there
— Ashley Feinberg (@ashleyfeinberg) July 26, 2017
thanks for all your support @IvankaTrump!!! https://t.co/KZnEEeFbkQ
— Matt Bellassai (@MattBellassai) July 26, 2017
So, he lied. pic.twitter.com/OBzRxFYS9g
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) July 26, 2017
Photos courtesy of Getty.
Wondering what Caitlyn Jenner thinks about this .
That was my first question too. Then I remembered that Caitlyn rides only for herself. As long as SHE gets to use the girls bathroom at Trump Towers and gets a tax cut she has no interest in anybody else.
Hey, Caitlyn Jenner, what do you think of Trumps transgender ban? *crickets, crickets*
probably nothing. She’s still riding the high of Pence’s wife being jealous that one time, she doens’t have time for these inconsequential issues that don’t impact her at all.
Bingo. But let’s face it, since she’s not in the military, she doesn’t give an eyelash extention.
She just reacted to it on her instagram.
I follow her on Facebook and she spoke out against it and included that old tweet of Trump saying he would support the LGBTQ community. The post is getting a polarized reaction….lots of people pointing out that she was the idiot who voted for him, and a lot at the other extreme, saying that transgender people shouldn’t be in the armed forces for all kinds of crazy, bigoted reasons.
WTG Caitlyn Jenner for supporting Trump! Hope your happy now.
That whole family is sick. And this… well i wanna cry. Whats next???
OMG OMG OMG….I just cant with him…I really just cant….Nope
Anyone who said Trump is better than Pence, take note. We are getting Pence’s agenda and we have a raving lunatic in possession of the nuclear codes. Better to dump Trump and face Pence head on.
There is an estimated 15,000 trans troops. So are they going to be honorably discharged with full benefits or what??? F this administration! If rethugs don’t get rid of this nutcase that will be 15, 000 more trained member of the resistance army!
Agree wholeheartedly. Better to deal with 1+ pricks instead of 2+ pricks.
Emperor Zero is setting up a battle in close states for Dems to smash this and for Reps to agree with it: Ohio, Wisconsin, etc. in 2018.
Disgrace on so many levels.
@Saras Good point! Trump’s disrespect for US troops is really astounding. I wonder how service members are taking this news.
Saras, good point! What is going to happen to the people ALREADY serving?
Honestly, I don’t know if Trump knew they were already serving. I wonder if this was actual policy cooked up by his administration brain trust, or if he just tweeted it on a whim.
Seriously Mike Pence is weak sauce compared to Trump. Pence is not a famous celebrity or a billionaire. He will never have the amount of power or following as Trump. He has to kiss Trump’s arse to even sit at the big boys table.
Trump announced this policy to get back the GOP base who are about to turn on him for attacking Sessions. Which has been the topic on every news channel and the Right Wing media. It’s a Trump versus Sessions. Trump just managed to change the topic with this tweet. Next is going to be a tweet banning all forms of abortions. The man is dumb but a genius at working his base and the media.
@ORIGINAL T.C.
“Seriously Mike Pence is weak sauce compared to Trump. Pence is not a famous celebrity or a billionaire. He will never have the amount of power or following as Trump. He has to kiss Trump’s arse to even sit at the big boys table.”
SPOT ON !
And Pence is just as horrifying. Both these clowns need to go away.
If a house could just conveniently land riiiiiight on top of him, what a day that would be.
I know. I just keep hoping he clogs his arteries with enough vanilla icecream and steak till he has a heart attack. He doesn’t drink or smoke but he clearly stress eats.
Mike Pence isn’t any better though. He believes in shock therapy for gays.
See just above. Pence is fulfilling his cultural agenda either way but he will not blow us up. We don’t get to pick in what order we get rid of these bastards.
Oh, I’d certainly wish for that house to drop on the lot of them, Pence, Ryan, McConnell, Evil Keebler… there are too many to name and I’m being lazy 😏 may they all go hunting with Dick Cheney and obstruct his view! Or perhaps a team building retreat at Camp Crystal Lake?
I hope the same. I hope a chunk of pork belly lodges in his airway and his only dinner companions are Pence and Mother. They won’t help because they will say it was God’s will. Pence is awful but the kind of awful with limitations. He doesn’t have a rabid group of idiot supporters either.
@Alleycat
He must hate himself.
From your lips to God’s ears.
Pence’s extreme views were never brought up during the campaign. He is among the most homophobic of politicians. He and Sessions, among others, are constantly using the phony issue of “religious liberty” to discriminate.
F*ck you F*ck you F*ck you
I’m sick…have been since November.
My first reaction to the headline, even before reading the post, was F*ck you DT, F*ck YOU”.
Using the f word is a big deal for me, I very, VERY seldom use it when I am angry. THIS makes me SO ANGRY.
Transgender persons are BRAVE and HONEST and INSPIRING.
“Tweets are not an executive order”
Everything else aside, it’s a frickin’ tragedy that you need to type that, Kaiser. I bet you never dreamed you’d have to.
But hasn’t it been stated that his tweets ARE official statements? Think this has been said by more than one person.
Exactly. It’s um… well, what can I say?
@sixer – that’s what’s scary is that they have made his tweets official and you can’t say much. He says anything that he wants and his supporters will run with it and guaranteed there will be an EO about this.
Oh my goodness, Sixer, indeed.
Someone on Twitter recently talked about a future Trump library and my first thought was why would he even need one? Seems like a kiosk where you could check Twitter would suffice.
Someone on twitter suggest that Clinton should sue him for constant defamation and that twitter probably would have kicked him off by now if he wasn’t Donald f**king trump. This is all about making his base happy because they love Sessions and he’s trying to distract them. He just tweeted about god and next we’ll get something about guns. God, gays and guns-how Repubs keep their deplorables in line.
These tweets have such an eerie sound to them. Like they were and were not written by him at the same time.
Oh, and WTF? He can’t just decree something like that (if anything) through a tweet.
I cannot imagine trump saying ‘thank you’to end a tweet-chain
When I first read them I was thinking.. did he think he was doing a dictation? A memo? A propaganda announcement? It reads so weird.
And the “please be advised” part? Who wrote that?! It sounds like an office memo.
On Monday night (there is a point to my story) I had dinner with one of the smartest couples I know. We are all unaffiliated with any political party and have great conversations about issues, usually. On Monday the wife and I were bemoaning the Orange Doofus and her husband made a point I’d not heard before, which was “Leading up to the election there was so much coverage of transgender issues, and a lot of middle America just felt like “Enough! This has all gone too far, and thus voted for an otherwise unacceptable candidate.” It was a novel point that I’d not heard put in such cause and effect terms.
Seeing these tweets and the top response about leaning into culture wars makes me appreciate his analysis even more. When he’s doing something dumb/illegal/corrupt all he has to do is stir the religious pot, and he shores up his base. It’s disgustingly effective. The only upside is: one day he’s coming for their “person” and maybe an awakening will occur.
Yes. If he re-ignites culture wars, he panders to his base AND traps the left. If they defend too vigorously then everyday people are turned off by the lack of focus on what they see as issues affecting everyone not just niche groups. If they don’t respond trenchantly enough and do focus on jobs and the like, they alienate core support.
Sad but true – he’s nothing if not a master manipulator of a sector of society that doesn’t appear to have a full load of brain cells amongst the whole lot of them.
Yes, this is a good point. I have heard so many say that Dems lost because they are so focused on “identity politics”.
I get frustrated with the premise, though. It doesn’t feel like anything so vain as the term “identity politics” suggests when it is your loved ones being affected. Criminal justice reform isn’t a thing because the black community needs issues to see themselves in. It is a thing because citizens’ rights are being trampled on when they are shot and killed without cause by those sworn to protect. Women’s reproductive rights aren’t a thing because women need a reason to march together. It is a thing because states are putting up road blocks to their access to medical care. Identity politics exist because people are discriminated against and disenfranchised because of their identity.
…but that doesn’t change the fact that these issues do make the average white middle class voter feel abandoned by the left. It is a frustrating rock and hard place.
I suppose one response to that – not my personal opinion because I don’t have a fixed one or have any answers at all, really – is that old maxim “it’s the economy, stupid”. If you have an economy that is careering towards starker and starker inequality, not one that works for all, you can’t build a cohesive society. And civil rights for marginalised groups are much easier to achieve when a) a society is cohesive and b) people are doing alright in their own lives so aren’t bothered when other people’s lives are improved.
That said, I type this from a UK perspective, where we don’t have any significant religious bloc that opposes civil rights on belief grounds.
Identity politics = peoples’ children. Please remember that!!
Sixer – Multitasking is a useful skill.
The Republicans have been using a similar tactic for a while now. In the 2006 mid-term election, and the 2008 presidential election, they worked hard to get anti gay marriage initiatives onto as many state ballots as they could. It had little to do with any of those states actually having laws allowing gay marriage (most of them weren’t even looking into it at that point), and more about riling up their very conservative base and getting them to the polls in order to vote against it. The theory was having a hot-button social issue like gay marriage on the ballot would increase turn-out of the demographic groups the conservatives needed in order to win. At the time I thought it was horribly manipulative, and yet genius in a cynical, evil sort of way.
The new Spicey, Mooch, is ghost tweeting Trump. It’s so obvious. Does anyone think Trump has ever used the word “beleaguered” in his life? Much less correctly spelled. He also recently used “whereas.” Trump’s new Spicey is like a girl with a cheater boyfriend. “But he won’t cheat on ME! He loves ME!” Ask the long list of former employees, appointees, and such if he’ll change for YOU, honey.
Beware of false prophets which will come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Most of us on this site knew he was evil. As time passes, more and more of his sheeple will know, if not admit. He just may be the final link. He is destroying our country, our citizens, our alliance with the world. He is Satan.
I don’t even believe in Satan, but I agree. This is just unbelievable.
Let me introduce you….trump this is HadToChangeMyName which btw makes me wish I knew who you were before the name change!
This is his MO. Distract everyone by focusing on an issue that is important but not really an “issue” until he makes it one. He just plucks something out of a hat (“Ooohh, let’s see … abortion … gay dudes marrying … transgender people in bathrooms … the MILITARY AND TRANSGENDER people! Huzzah!”) and puts it out there like everyone has been so worried about it. It’s a good strategy and I don’t believe for a second that he came up with that issue himself.
Also, I love Matt Bellassai.
ETA: Also, when has the US military had a decisive and overwhelming victory? WWII? And he did not write that himself. “Please be advised” my ass.
Spot on. Blowing smoke.
He just wants to further polarise the country and keep the left from being able to focus on jobs/economy/public services because they’re so busy defending social justice issues. And if he makes it about the cost of healthcare just as millions of Americans are about to lose their insurance, he might well get some traction.
I don’t believe he wrote those tweets either.
Of all the idiotic things I’ve seen him do, this one seems um… not clever but strategic? It *sounds* brutish and wanky, like him. But it also has a purpose.
It is highly strategic. This is an excellent move, in fact. Because my first instinct was “Ignore. FOCUS!” but then you think “Don’t ignore this, do something! Transgender people need support, even if this affects not that many people in the grand scheme of things.” And he’s got me. And other “liberals”. This was not him.
I think so. I hate to call anything he does a clever move. But if you switch your focus from transgender issues (I very much doubt he gives the chuff from a flying monkey about transgender issues one way or the other) and to what the opposition must do to respond, you see it’s a trap.
And if it’s a clever move, it can’t be coming from him!
If it makes you feel better, i’d arugue its not a smart move, but by accident. He’s not clever, in the sense that a dog herding cattle is not clever.
He is just an instinctual bully and attention diverting egoist, its 70 years deep at this point, this is as natural as breathing for him and requires as little thought.
His focus has always been on “divide and conquer” and as long as he keeps ‘Muricans ranting at each other over non-important but culturally divisive issues he’s holding the winning ticket. Sadly…
I saw a graph on the Twatter the other day, Jaded, that showed how US politics has polarised over the last years. Not a pretty sight. You can’t build a cohesive nation when there’s not only no crossover, but rather vast expanses of clear water, between two sides.
I think it’s terrible that this is his MO.
Yes, whatever could he want to distract attention from this week? It’s not like two members of his family are testifying before Congressional inquiries this week or anything…
yep…he does this every single time and notice Republicans also stir up the health care debate when big Russian news happens
Just reminding: saying that this and other anti-LGBTQ policy = “intentional distractions” is giving Trump a lot of credit and concerned queer people zero respect.
What does that have to do with respect? I’m not saying anyone isn’t important enough to be the focus of this deranged lunatic. I’m just saying this came out of nowhere. And I was very clear that I do not think this is his idea. But thanks for the reminder I guess.
Well, it gets transgenders out of any draft he might want to put in place.
Yes, my first thought was that considering the current Commander in Chief, it’s not a bad idea to keep thousands of people from joining up with the military. Like everybody else, they will just be treated as disposable kleenexes once they are actually injured in his wars.
So sad for my Transgender neighbors and friends. That being said this is all just a culture war distraction to get the scent off of Russia.
Plus it helps him suck up to Russia as well. Who is also in trouble for not supporting gay, womens or transgender rights.
So is this Pence, or Putin?
It’s Bannon, smells like gin soaked raisins
I was going to say Bannon, too. Lol at “gin soaked raisins.” Yes, he is.
So he wants to ban people who have the courage to serve in military while his ass didn’t serve because of “bad feet”.
When a reporter asked what foot his bone spurs were in, he brushed her off and told her to look it up. In other words, he had no bad feet
Figures.
I’ve had plantar fasciitis (bone spurs are typical of it) and believe me, which foot was first affected is seared into my memory….. If he didn’t have that kind of pain to trigger his memory, it’s unlikely that he had the condition.
But still, it was a stupid and immoral war and I support anybody, including The Donald, who found a way to stay out of it. No government anywhere has the right to force anybody by any means to risk their life and limb involuntarily. If they want to fight a war, let them persuade people that it’s worth fighting. Any draft is simply a bully move, intimidating people to do something dangerous by threatening jail and a lifetime of explanations.
I just wish people like The Donald would be more honest and say they grabbed at any straw to stay out of the war because they didn’t believe it was worth fighting. That’s real democracy. The only downside with the “volunteer” military (if you can call people volunteers when they can’t get decent jobs or education otherwise) is that we lack the anger of draftees to push against war. Our government had to get out of the Vietnam War because by the end of it, half the draftees were refusing to show up for induction and 80% of the returning troops were talking against the stupid war. In contrast, we have been in Afghanistan longer than we were in Vietnam and there is really no end in sight. The government just keeps adjusting the rationale for it. Trump wants to send more troops there.
I wonder if some big news is about to break that he wants to distract from? This timing seems so random.
Yep don’t pay,attention to this garbage. If he wanted to do this he’d have a presser with an exec order, not twitter. Plus, the ACLU can sue and have it overturned in court. This is unconstitutional and a distraction for whatever he’s trying to hide from us.
Chris Hayes’ tweet is so on point. It’s going to get so ugly because this man-child is not being allowed to knock over the statue of legos.
Hey, Caitlin Jenner, fierce warrior for the community and the downtrodden! Here’s your time to shine – go to WAR like you promised and tell your buddy Trump what you think of him!
Even the way he says everything is just so hateful and mean.
Cue Princess Nagini posting pictures of Arabella and Teddy.
If the Princess is smart, she is too busy packing up to move back to New York asap. Or maybe to Israel (they could apply for cutizenship there by the law of return and the Prince would be protected against extradition).
Yup, haven’t heard from her in 24 hours. She tweeted support to her “friends” on June 1 and hasn’t managed to tweet yesterday or today.
He’s such an awful human being, my God. I know there’s a cosmic lesson we all need to to learn from this hideous experience, but whoo boy it is painful.
He enjoys attempting to make other people feel somehow lesser. The man has no redeeming qualities and is a waste of oxygen and cheap self tanner.
So, what does Caitlyn Jenner have to say about this? When will she wake up??
So, did he just find out the healthcare bill is going to die a fiery death again and now he is going after miniorities because he is being petty.. excuse me… a hateful, disgusting piece of garbage?
Or did Mueller get those tax returns that say that Dump is millions/billions of dollars in debt and a story is about to come out in WAPO or NYT?
Where are all the ” lets wait and see” people? Where is Caitlyn? Where are the libertarians at? The Bernie Bros and Brodettes? If you think he is going to stop at transgender/transgendered people (sorry if that is the incorrect term) think again.
He went after Lisa Murkowski for last night’s vote before he let this one rip.
The vote for debate on TrumpCare was such a farce. The Dems will have all of ten hours to oppose it and McConnell can shut them down any time he wants, claiming they aren’t being relevant. I assume the Dems are ready to tag team, though, as they did when Warren tried to get Coretta Scott King’s letter about Sessions into the record and when Harris was shut up in Committee trying to get a straight answer out of the elfin weasel.
This is so weird. This is not how Congress generally operates. What is their rush? It took a year of debates and hearings and discussions to get the ACA passed and that was based on an already successful program in Massachusetts. That’s a normal timeline. Pushing through votes without even enough time to read the bill and hear from experts and consider the budget office evaluation is just not normal.
What is really driving McConnell? He’s rich. Are those tax cuts that crucial to him? Is he being blackmailed? Bribed at too high a level to refuse? His wife got a cabinet position from Trump. Is she somehow involved? Is she being blackmailed or threatened?
Maybe the Russian hack of Republicans is far more important than we’ve thought as blackmail material and maybe Trump has it. He has been involved with Russian mobsters for decades. Something is just not right in this Congress. They’re hearing from constituents of all political labels and they can see the polls. They’ve seen safe Republican seats challenged in special elections by Democrats who actually came close to winning in thoroughly Republican areas. That should be scaring them. People really don’t like want they are doing, the voters clearly want the ACA to be fixed and/or Medicare for All. If the Republicans actually manage to repeal the ACA and enact their horrible replacements, they will be facing voter wrath at a whole new level. Why are the Republicans risking their seats in Congress over this?
Pence’s reward for casting that deciding vote again. Mexicans, Muslims, Transgendered, the list keeps growing.
Sadly, this single action will shake some parent up and move them from supporter to former trump supporter…but it takes this?
#not winning
@jrenee
I hadn’t thought of it that way but I think you are right. A reward for his vote ugh!!! I read that Mother Pence actually wears the pants in the family and is even more religious than Mike himself. I also read Trump is somewhat scared of Mother and personally called her after the p*ssygrabbing tape came out. The whole lot of them are awful.
“My” generals. God, he thinks he’s a dictator. They aren’t “his” generals. No wonder he’s so enthralled with other dictators. That’s how he thinks of himself and how he wants to run this country without democracy, the “pesky” interference of government, no checks and balances. Ugh. I HATE Trump.
Yes, Jayna. I’m glad you saw that, too. Always important to listen to the finer points of his language. No you Twitler, they’re not YOUR generals. Now F&*& off.
The military isn’t exactly known for encouraging self-expression. This does’t surprise me and I can understand the reasoning behind it. Someone that is deeply disconnected from their physical state may not be in the right frame of mind for brainwashing and assimilation.
But since women can serve in combat now along with men, does being trans really matter at all?
Being trans shouldn’t matter at all in terms of military service.
However, women aren’t allowed in all combat roles. Not that they shouldn’t be, but they aren’t.
Don’t worry, they’ll move to kick women out next.
There really is no depths too low for him to sink. Does he still not realize that just because he says…I mean tweets…something that it doesn’t mean that’s automatically how it’s going to be? And what’s with the “thank you” at the end? He went off the rails before he ever became President, but jeezus…
Look what PRECIOUS Sean Spicey Tweetered:
It’s not like the President wanted to ban transgendered from the military, but lobbing glitter at our enemy just isn’t going to work anymore
Tell me you’re kidding! This presidency is like a terrible SNL skit that never ends.
Is this real? If so he deserves to be slapped
It may have been a hoax-the link showed up earlier and looked official when I clicked on it but now it seems to be gone. My mistake! I didn’t think Spicey was this low and I’m glad he’s probably not.
It’s like everything is going back 30 years.
The excuse for this discrimination is that trans folks cost too much in terms of medical care. My strong guess is that when the research is done, this will be disproven. It’s a sop to the transphobic part of his base. And as other posters have noted, it’s a distraction.
I don’t understand this reasoning. What does military service have to do with medical care? Are their flu shots more expensive than others?
Because the fed govt pays for health care coverage of active military members and certain family members. (It’s called TRICARE). So lately the Republicans in Congress have been agitating to remove transgender medical care from any covered medical benefits for the military/their families.
On a related note, the US military spends at least $84 million per year on Viagra and related medications.
Tourmaline, I suspected as much. I posted about it on another thread. These facts will come out soon enough.
Yet another reason to adopt universal healthcare. The underlying issue with any (small) medical expense here is that employers are involved in employees’ healthcare costs. That doesn’t happen overseas in countries with universal healthcare – they would be horrified at the thought of their employers butting into something so personal.
Transgender people can – and do – serve in the British armed forces and of course, medical bills don’t come into it because of universal healthcare.
But they do have to disclose details – whether or not they’re taking hormones and what stage that is at may affect their medical grading and subsequent postings.
For that matter, GQ pointed out that, assuming the maximum cost for trans health care (as stated by the Pentagon), and that’s the equivalent of paying for four of Trump’s trips to Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
He is toxic masculinity personified. He exemplifies all of the absolute worst traits associated with manhood. He also reminds me of a different vomit coloured Slimer.
I can completely imagine him having a lovely night with the transgender person and not even realizing it in the morning. And bragging about the great sex to his golfing buddies, because after all you know,
“boys will be boys”!
I should not be giving my opinion on affairs that do not concern my country but this guy OMG! I could not believe this when I read it! How more divisive can this person be???
I think you are welcome to comment. Trump’s behavior affects the world.
The Canadian military has offered to take all transgendered soldiers. “Proud and honored to have you.”
That’s OK Cristina you still have free speech there.
Totally agree with Chris Hayes. The more threatened he feels he will pull this culture war crap. It’s a cheap trick to bait his racist homophobic supporters. Like someone above mentioned at this point better to face Pence head on. We know what we are up against, meanwhile these grifters (Trump family) are con artists and much much worse if the rumors are true.
What century is this? Are the transgender people already serving have to leave? He gets worse every day.
Are the Generals he had the consultation with the same ones that knew less about ending ISIS than he did?
As a female who served in Special Operations in the Army and who was attached to a Special Forces team down range, I feel I have the hands on experience to say the only reason a transgender person wouldn’t be able to successfully serve, is because of the bigotry, hatred, and jundgement of the people they served next to. I peed right next to males, shit next to males, even got my period next to males…all while on long-range missions in Afghanistan. We all handled ourselves professionally and safely! To say that a transgender person would be a burden is total bullsh&@! I’d also like to add that the anti-anxiety prescription that I take to manage myself after the rape by two white-bro officers after our deployment is only 5$…I’m sure the gov gets a good deal on our meds. I’m quite certain it isn’t the transgender people in our military who are rape mongers either. Such fu@@ing BS. Totally heartbroken by his tweets today.
My admiration and love to you. My sorrow at what you have suffered. I grew up in a military family. Now I am the mother of a gay daughter with many Transgender friends. Thank you so much for your honesty and honor!!! Many best wishes for the future.
I appreciate that very much…but please understand I only put that out there to reinforce a point. That it’s white, hateful, bigoted bro’s in the military who are supremely messed up and can’t wrap their minds around serving with people who aren’t like them…not Trans people. My heart breaks for them today.
I’m so sorry, Phyllis. I’m sorry you were r*ped and you now have PTSD.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with us. It is really important. You sound like an incredibly strong individual and I value what you have to say.
Thank you for your service, Phyllis. Yeah, I served in the Navy during first Persian Gulf War and the only idiots I ran into were privileged dude-bros who thought because I was a woman (and enlisted) I was weak.
As the only female in my small command, one officer thought he could deny me leave because and I quote, “you might get pregnant, get booted out and owe the Navy leave.” I was like WTF? I filed charges against him the next day – the idiot had put it in writing. My captain, a man I admired greatly, asked me to drop the harassment charges and if I did, I get my leave. I agreed, but added a stipulation: idiot would get a reprimand in his file, which I knew would kill his opportunity for promotion to LCDR. My captain made sure I never worked the same shift as that a** again. He never would have made that statement to a male sailor.
During get my time, I served with many fine men and women, gay and straight, and Trump’s transgender ban is unjust.
My prayers are with you for what you’ve endured. I hope the military or VA has stepped up for you. 💜
Dear Phyllis, Thank you so much for serving our country. I’m sorry for the price you paid. I hope there will be brighter days ahead.
Pandering to Pence perhaps? And if so, why? What’s the dynamic behind the scenes?
Without wanting to get anyone’s hopes up of course.
Or to Putin? A pathetic defence of his manhood in front of an international strongman?
More likely just a distraction. That’s Trump’s consistent pattern. I doubt that Trump really cares about such things. Pence definitely does, he’s a bundle of intense prejudices and fears especially on anything involving sex and strict gender roles. But I’m not sure how much Pence counts. He hovers but it’s not clear how much he affects policy until he actually takes over when the men in white coats come to take Trump away….
Aren’t people deemed ineligible for things like asthma and ADHD? The complications involved with transgender people in the armed forces may outweigh the benefits provided by the small number of transgender enlistees. For example, having biological males serving with the women units might present a problem for people whether warranted or not.
The US Military is not a social experiment nor should it be tasked with paying for gender reassignment. TG people can do whatever they want to as a civilian. However when you enlist in the military, you no longer are a free individual. You are property of the US Gov’t. Tax payers should not have to foot the bill for anyone who wants an elective cosmetic surgery.
Others can critique the above comment better than I can but can we at least start by pointing out that gender reassignment surgery is not cosmetic and that people don’t join up to get free surgeries?
Thanks for saying that because I was scratching my head wondering if the military actually pays for gender reassignment surgeries because I didn’t think it did/does.
What is it if not cosmetic?
I am telling you a Trans person would not enlist in the military to get a free sex change. They would enlist for love of country, possible family connections, etc. A transgender person isnt going to just put themselves in that situation for some free hormone shots and gender reassignment. Besides there are plenty of academic institutions who work with people going through this (yes, I have a very good transgender friend working with one of them) so the military would be the last place a Trans person would go if they were seeking assistance.
Transgendered people often havent had the surgery at the time of military servitude- you realise that right?
Gender dysphoria is a medical condition, not a cosmetic one.
My question, as I said to someone on my FB, is why would someone risk their life (both at war and in the armed services – yes there are people that have been beaten for their sexual orientation) for free surgery?
Please provide statistics and proof that what you assert is actually a problem. A court case or two would also help enlighten us to the nature of this issue.
I am also interested to hear about the transgendered women who join to get close to other women so they can take advantage of them. I am not sure you are aware but transgender and criminal depravity are not connected.
The percentage of transgendered people in the military is negligible but we are to believe this is something we need to address immediately. North Korea, Syria, Isis, Israel, trade, immigration, the economy, infrastructure and foreign relations are far less important in his tiny mind. He is pathetic.
My father served in 3 wars. I have tremendous respect for the military. These old arguments have been used against African-american troops, female troops, and gay and lesbian troops. The same “it’s not a social experiment” phrase is used. This is code for let’s have a 40’s movie military with only white, straight, cis gender John Wayne wannabes because everything else is unAmerican. My strong guess is that in the coming days, actual evidence is going to show that this arbitrary rule by the worst Oval Office occupant ever is not based on any actual evidence.
Yes, very well said. Thank you. And bless your father.
Excellent point. Also I haven’t seen any reputable sources say that being transgender is an impediment to military service. There has been enough experience with them to have significant data, I would think.
What about natural intersex people? Are they barred? Do they do DNA testing? There are so many X/Y chromosome deviations from XX, XY (some seem to have no effect) known today. Are people barred due to those? I do know that once you’re in the military in the middle of a war, the bar is higher for getting out. After getting tossed from a jeep in Vietnam, my brother was examined by a doctor who found a pre-existing problem with his back that would have made him 4-F and ineligible for the draft. Of course brother asked hopefully if that meant he could get out of the Army now. The doc just laughed and said no.
The military can have some strange rules, but they tend to change over time as people realize they aren’t the problem originally assumed. My mother had thought my brother’s extremely flat feet would keep him out of the Vietnam War but alas – they didn’t. Arch supports in boots had improved a lot by that time… So if trans people haven’t been a problem so far, I find it hard to believe that the military is going to be so anxious to lose 15,000 soldiers now and more later. I wonder if Trump or the staffer who wrote the tweet actually consulted with appropriate people in the military.
There have been quite a lot of senior, white, “mature” servicemen – Admirals and the like – on CNN deploring trump’s stupid tweet and saying that transgender people have served / are serving honourably.
Annetommy, also McCain, Lindsey G., and other members of the Senate. It is encouraging.
Well said, third ginger.
Asthma and ADHD are due to obvious issues with being out in potentially deadly environments for asthmatics and ADHD in listening and responding to orders in high pressure situations. They are things that prevent you physically doing the job, being transgender doesn’t. If you can do the work you should get to. Not to mention viagra and such costs your health system waayyyyyy more than any gender reassignment surgeries.
One of the highest ranking people who served in the Aus defence force is transgender, Cate McGregor. She was an advisor to the Chief of defence and did some really stellar work.
“TG people can do whatever they want as a civilian”. My guess is that you haven’t asked many TG people about their life experiences.
Uh, NO thank you. F off, Donald.
OMG, what’s his next move going to be? Reverse gay marriage? Trump is a hateful, disgusting excuse of a human being.
With a 2nd Supreme CT appointment,yes,they could seek to reverse the constitutionally protected right to marry.
I guarantee next will be a ban on gay people serving and eventually on women. Remember Trump’s comment about the epidemic of sexual assault in the military : “what did these geniuses expect when they put men and women together”
Disgusting!
Too many letters to type of transgendered people, Donny Boy? Or are you so ignorant of the people you serve that you don’t know transgenders isn’t the appropriate terminology?
I hate him.
You know the Petagon HATES clownface. They usually announce through a legitimate source (new outlets, newspapers, etc) do a public briefing the sign months down the road…..but no this fool comes out and announces it on Twitter. Also rarely does the military go back on policies like this, its extremely rare. They probably hate his Presidency no doubt.
What’s sad is that there quite a few in the transgender community that voted for Trump and this is what they get in return. They can’t even say they got played though because when have Republicans ever really viewed transgenders as people?? People need to educate themselves. smh
There must be a whopper of a secret he is frantic to hide. It must be far worse than we imagined.
I wonder how they define ‘transgender’? Stupid, stupid little man.
I am dying. Sarah Huckabee Sanders just read a cutsie letter from a child who is a Trump admirer. In the words that helped bring down Joe McCarthy, “Have they no shame; at long last, have they no shame?”
Apparently they are going to do this at every press briefing. His ratings must really be in the crapper.
The little boy loves Trump soooo much that he had a Donald Trump birthday cake. Isn’t that sweet and adorable? Barf! Gag me with her pearls! Suckabee knew this briefing would be tough because of the Sessions/Trump problem and the hideous transgender ban
Politico has a good story explaining that he made a snap decision to ban transgender people from the military for this reason: Congressional Republicans were threatening to derail his budget for the wall, etc. if there was not a ban on paying for transgender related medical costs for the military. The article makes the point that those Congressional Republicans were not proposing a total ban on all transgender persons serving in the military. But that is what he did.
He’s tweeting about God now. He’s securing his base…. something is about to come out. Urgh I can’t take this constant anxiety.
Where was Ivanka, who crowned herself and her husband advocates for LBTGQ, when The King of Lies and Fake News tweeted this nonsense? For all those press reporters who patted Ivanka on the back for being a positive influence on her father, what do they say now? So Ivanka’s role in the WH is profit from being the president’s daughter, leak negative stories about the person her husband is feuding with at the time, and pay press to normalize her father and write nice articles about herself.
Yesterday Pence broke the tie to get the motion to proceed debate on the nohealthcare bill going and the very next day The King of Lies and Fake News rewards him by announcing that transgender people are completely banned from serving in the military. This is what our country has become? Every day The King of Lies and Fake News and the GOP do something to destabilize this country. They are slowly moving us backwards to the horrible parts of our country’s history. All it takes is one GOP member to say enough, but they are too afraid of what the Russians have on them to do anything about it.
Who is next? We also have to fault people like Neil Gorsch and that judge who gave the okay for Chris Kobach to proceed to collect voter information because the Voter Suppression Commission isn’t an agency and she couldn’t see how collecting voter data and letting it sit at the WH was causing harm to the voters. Had they called out The King of Lies and Fake News for his attempts to promote hatred, what a difference it would have made today as The King of Lies and Fake News tweets about banning Transgenders from the military.
I can’t wait to see her say through her cartoon teeth that her father treats everyone equally and is a great supporter of the LGBTQ community.
The irony is that many members of the American military voted for Trump. Ye reap what ye sow. ( that is from the Bible). BEt they are regretting it now.
Ah Trump, you idiot You’re playing right into corporal Klinger’s hands.
I just want to wake up. Because that little freak, with the endless stream of stupidity, bigotry, classlessness and insanity can’t possibly be President in real life.
I checked Ivanka’s twitter account and so far she hasn’t said anything about what her father did today. We all know how she is going to respond when she finally decides to break her twitter silence, post a photo of one of her children. Notice how she always drags out the kids when her father does something stupid, cruel, and insensitive? Like during the NYT interview(where he trashed talked Comey, Sessions, Rosenstein, and McCabe, Obama, and Hillary)when she had her daughter run in the room, hug her father, and speak Chinese(according to Peter B, she said hello and I love you grandpa)?
June 1: “I am proud to support my LGBTQ friends and the LGBTQ Americans who have made immense contributions to our society and economy.”-Ivanka
Today: The King of Lies and Fake News tweets that Transgender people are banned from the military because he thinks that their presence disrupts the military and he doesn’t want to pay for their medical bills.
The brave military people (which includes the LGBT commmunity) put their lives on the line for the US. They work very hard for not much money and not the best benefits. They deserve respect for their service and not to be belittled by someone who has never once had to sacrifice anything for anyone. Trump never serves anyone but himself. The fact that he makes decisions which impact the lives of many honorable people is a crying shame. I fear that our country has fallen into the pits.
All of Trumps tweets and statements are smokescreens and the idiots keep lapping it up. Greed is the number one problem in America. The sooner you wake up to that the better.
Trump: We haven’t forgotten about the Mueller Investigation, this sort of behavior isn’t going to deflect from us wanting to know about YOUR MONEY TRAIL.
Another piece of shit move by Trump. We all need to stand together during this time. No one is safe in Trump world, unless of course they are benefiting him.
I told the people I knew who voted for him that you they were responsible for whatever happened. You didn’t get to pick and choose amongst his policies. Well, here we are.
And if there are any transgender readers on the site, I want you to know that you are not a burden to society. You are human beings who deserve the same rights and respect as anybody else, and there are plenty of us here who will fight for your ability to be recognized as such.
I cannot be a model because I am too short. I cannot be a basketball player either.
Thanks for sharing. I’m not sure what that has to do with being trans, though, given both women and men can serve in the military as gender isn’t a qualifying criterion. Height related requirements aren’t predicated solely on bigotry.