On July 26,
Donald Trump tweeted (in three parts):
After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow .... Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming .... victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail.
The announcement came as a sharp shock to most everybody. With no warning to involved military departments, it was like
breaking up with a lover in a text. Moreover, the factual premises were.... problematic. Nobody can seem to find any generals who were actually consulted. The whole military leadership structure seemed caught off guard and unawares, providing unusually audible grumbles
against this policy directed at the putative
Commander in Chief.
Commentators quickly pointed out that some 15,000 transgender people now serve in the military--without disruption--but that drumming all 15,000 trained servicemembers out will cause tremendous disruption, legal resistance, and far more expense than the alluded "medical costs." And speaking of those, talk show host (and military veteran)
Montel Williams quickly noted that transgender-specific medical costs are estimated between $2.4 and $8.4 million (of the US military's $600 billion medical budget), while the military spends ten times as much ($84 million!!) to keep fighting men well-stocked with boner pills. In fairness,
erectile dysfunction can be a serious
malady; but so can
gender dysphoria (and most transgender servicemembers don't even seek subsidized surgery).
The last word so far from the military is that
these tweets will be ignored (and personnel treated "with respect") until properly framed guidelines are provided. By which time
Congress seems poised to have stripped the power from the President to effect such a change.
298 words for Brevity Quest 2017