Trump trashes transgender service
Military ban may begin erosion of LGBT rights
The internet was abuzz this week after President Trump tweeted the announcement of a ban on transgender people serving in the American armed forces. Pundits and social media pontificators alike — from conservative to neo-liberal Democrat to anti-nationalist — were aghast at such a bold and seemingly matter-of-fact move by the president. (He quickly moved on to his usual business of bashing Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his former rival in last year’s election, Hillary Clinton.)
“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,” he posted in a series of three tweets Wednesday morning. “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. Thank you.”
There was, understandably, a considerable outcry that followed, with hashtags including #Trans-RightsAreHumanRights, # TransPeopleAreNotA-Burden and #NoTransBan immediately trending on social media. However, the discourse quickly shifted to the real life implications of the president’s statement, and many pointed to the lengthy process that was required for former President Bill Clinton to institute the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in the 1990s.
It’s true that there has been considerable pushback to Trump’s announcement from members of Congress, and it’s unclear how such a ban would be implemented. But we need to take a moment and recognize how damaging the rhetoric is. The start of any widespread civil rights violations ultimately began with rhetoric and destructive propaganda targeted toward a particular community.
During early colonialism, rampant propaganda, fueled by religion, spread through the minds of Europeans that the occupation of Africa was necessary to tame a barbaric people and save them from themselves. Such rhetoric would ultimately lead to the destruction of entire civilizations and eventually to the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Before Japanese immigrants were inhumanely rounded up in internment camps during World War II, the country was gripped by irrational, xenophobic fear following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Hateful, unsubstantiated rhetoric helped lead President Franklin Roosevelt to issue an executive order authorizing the detention and relocation of nearly 120,000 people, more than 60 percent of whom were already American citizens.
The Trump administration and its supporters have established a dangerous slippery slope, one that could theoretically lead to the reinstatement of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell; the eventual reversal of the Supreme Court decision recognizing legal marriage between same-sex couples; a pushback of the executive order that allows LGBTQ-identified couples to visit each other in the hospital without the permission of a family member; the stripping of current government health care subsidies and laws requiring coverage of transgender health services; and the abolishment of current protections of LGBTQ minors against mentally damaging conversion therapy.
And that could just be the beginning.
President Trump’s trans ban on military service may not ever come to full fruition, but a nation openly contesting the rights of a minority has proven time and time again to reap centuries-long consequences on entire populations — in this case, for that of a young person who is questioning or just coming to grips with their transgender identity. The backlash of a nation grappling with the worth of your existence is a weight many cannot bear.
If we believe today that it is safer to take away someone’s right to travel based on their religious beliefs, or that withholding an individual’s right to serve in the military saves us from a financial burden, then tomorrow we will fall for far more dangerous civil rights abuses until we find ourselves — much like the interned Japanese, and African ancestors, and the many other communities that have suffered brutal oppression before us — wondering how it got this far.