President Trump announced Wednesday morning transgender people will no longer be allowed to serve in the United States military.
President Trump:
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. Thank you
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In a recent memo, Secretary of Defense James Mattis called for a six-month delay of transgender recruitment to the U.S. military.
Guardian reports:
Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said Mattis made the decision on Friday. The delay in allowing the enlistment of new recruits does not affect transgender troops who are already serving openly in the military.
Mattis said in a memo obtained by The Associated Press: “After consulting with the service chiefs and secretaries, I have determined that it is necessary to defer the start of accessions for six months. We will use this additional time to evaluate more carefully the impact of such accessions on readiness and lethality.”
In the memo, Mattis said he believed the department must measure “each policy decision against one standard” — whether it affects the readiness of the military to defend the nation.
Mattis’s decision formally endorses an agreement hammered out last week by the leaders of the four military services, which rejected army and air force requests for a two-year wait. And it reflects the broader worry that a longer delay would trigger criticism on Capitol Hill, officials familiar with the talks said.
