President Trump shocked the Twittersphere this morning by announcing he would be reinstating the long-standing ban on individuals with gender dysphoria serving in the military:
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
The ban was first removed a year ago by the Obama administration at the behest of the radical LGBT lobby.
This was a great decision. Trump cited the “tremendous medical costs” associated with sex-change operations and hormone therapy, which the taxpayer would be on the hook for, as a major reason for the move. This is true. However, that’s not the only reason this is good policy.
Our military is the greatest fighting force in the history of the world. Why would we want to disrupt readiness and morale by forcing our troops to obsess over “male periods” and “preferred pronouns” when they should be focusing exclusively on defeating the enemy?
The most important thing Washington, D.C., can do in regard to our troops is to ensure that they are properly equipped for combat and functioning as an efficient (and deadly!) unit. Our heroes don’t need bureaucratic paper pushers force-feeding them a politically correct gender ideology that has no basis in reality.
Our military is an exclusive group — it is a privilege to serve, not a right. Potential recruits are excluded all the time for various physical and mental health conditions. Gender dysphoria has traditionally been one of those conditions, and up until a few years ago, it was universally regarded as a mental illness. Now, because of a powerful political movement, we are told by so-called experts that women can have penises and men can have periods.
That’s an interesting theory that certainly makes for a compelling gender studies thesis, but let’s leave the social experimentation to the college campuses. President Trump is doing the right thing by fixing a mistake made a year ago. He’s keeping our military great.