Pelosi Blasts Trump For Ban On Transgender Service Members
Following President Donald Trump’s announcement Wednesday morning via Twitter that the U.S. military would officially forbid transgender individuals from serving, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., issued a statement blasting the president for his “vile and hateful agenda” and also launched a series of tweets promising “this fight is not over.”
“This morning’s tweets reveal a president with no loyalty to the courageous men and women in uniform who risk their lives to defend our freedoms,” her statement read. “This disgusting ban will weaken our military and the nation it defends.”
She also cited a Department of Defense study to argue that the tangential issue of the military funding sex-change operations for transgender soldiers should not be of concern, claiming such surgery would cost the Pentagon only “a paltry 2 to 8 million per year.”
“Once again, President Trump has shown his conduct is driven not by honor, decency or national security, but by raw prejudice,” Pelosi said. “This is a dark day for thousands of heroes in our military and for our entire country.”
.@POTUS has shown his conduct is driven not by honor, decency, or national security, but by prejudice. https://t.co/PHTlXMhEJg pic.twitter.com/X9rYhn5Jic
— Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) July 26, 2017
The idea of officially opening the military to transgender soldiers started with former President Barack Obama, whose administration passed a directive to be implemented in July of 2017 to allow transgender men and women to serve openly.
As the deadline loomed, however, senior leaders within each branch of the service began sharing their concerns with the Trump administration, which led eventually to a delay in the implementation of Obama’s directive, according to Military Times.
“The Army and the Marine Corps have been most vocal in advocating for a delay, according to one military official who, like others, spoke with Military Times on the condition of anonymity because the matter remains pre-decisional and extremely sensitive.”
Like all who wear the uniform, their willingness to risk their lives to protect our families & our communities should be honored.
— Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) July 26, 2017
I promise you: this fight is not over. Hatred will never defeat #pride – both of country & of living your life as your true self.
— Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) July 26, 2017
Their concerns reportedly ranged from the potential psychological side effects of gender dysopheria to the prospect of women being forced to shower with men who purport to be transgender to the costs of funding sex-change operations and other medical services reputedly required by transgender men and women.
The president’s announcement Wednesday morning, which made clear that the military “will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity,” citing the “tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender(s) in the military would entail,” suggested he didn’t take the senior leaders’ concerns lightly.
In fact, in his tweets the president specifically noted that he arrived at his decision “(a)fter (a) consultation with my generals and military experts.”
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Source: Western Journalism