As a transgender reporter, it has been exhausting and sobering to report on the Trump administration's relentless and systematic attacks on the trans community, and today is no different. To the dismay of LGBTQ activists, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, has allowed President Donald Trump’s widely disavowed trans military ban to go into effect temporarily, CNN reported.
The impact of the trans military ban will be far-reaching and devastating: According to some estimates, the United States is the largest employer of transgender people in the world, with an estimated 15,500 active-duty service members in its employ.
President Trump first announced his trans military ban in July 2017, on Twitter, inciting a swift and furious backlash. “Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that trans in the military would entail,” he said. “Thank you.”
Though President Trump’s administration has remained adamant in his claims and persistently moved to advance the ban to the Supreme Court, Trump's assertions about the costs and challenges associated with allowing trans people to serve are riddled with untruths. The trans military ban is no more than anti-trans hysteria and misinformation dressed up as a strategic, protective measure.
I decided to fact-check the various arguments at the core of the trans military ban. Read more via Teen Vogue