When neo-fascist con man Donald "Rump" Trump announced, via his favorite policy communication vehicle Twitter, that transgender people would be banned from serving in the U.S. armed forces, the Pentagon was caught by surprise, despite Rump's tweeted lie that he consulted with "his generals." Thousands of transgender people already serve in the military, and dismissing them from service would be a disaster for them and their families, not to mention wholly arbitrary and discriminatory against people who had met the training and fitness requirements for service. The shocking announcement even prompted some Rethuglicans to come out of hiding and express their opposition.
Facing the deepening scandal involving his political and financial entanglements with Moscow, Rump is trying to shore up his core support, including the bigoted "religious" right, which is adamantly opposed to LGBTQ rights in any form or fashion. This "ban" was a gift to that hardcore constituency at the expense of thousands who are serving now and who want to serve in the future. Transgender former Navy SEAL Kristin Beck, who served for 20 years as a SEAL in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan, and who was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, had this to say to Rump, who avoided military service:
"Let's meet face to face and you tell me I'm not worthy. Transgender doesn't matter. Do your service....Being transgender doesn't affect anyone else. We are liberty's light. If you can't defend that for everyone that's an American citizen, that's not right."Beck's words will be lost on Rump, for whom service to your country is someone else's job, just not transgender people.
UPDATE: The Joint Chiefs of Staff apparently were not among those "generals" whom Rump consulted:
EXCLUSIVE: US Joint Chiefs of Staff tells military there will be no modification to transgender policy until direction received from Pres— Idrees Ali (@idreesali114) July 27, 2017
The incompetent shitgibbon strikes again. SAD!
