Britain Says No to US Transgender Ban
Last month President Donald Trump announced on his Twitter account his decision to ban transgender people to serve in the US military after consulting with his generals and military experts.
Justifying his decision by saying the US would no longer be “burdened” with the medical costs and disruption they present.
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A ban which existed before as it was believed that a person’s gender dysphoria could interfere their ability to serve, since it can lead to severe depression and anxiety and hence require treatments deemed too expensive.
The argument was proven incorrect and was reverted under the Obama administration in 2016.
A Rand Corporation study published in 2016 estimates the number of transgender people in the US military between 1,320 and 6,630.
It also reveals that only between 29 to 129 service members seek transition related care during their active service and approximately 30 to 140 new hormone treatments are accounted for every year.
Overall the cost of gender transition–related health care range from $2.4 million and $8.4 million or in other words 0.04- to 0.13-percent of the total health care of the US military according to this story.
LJ Ferris a non-binary transgender activist from Leeds shared their feelings on this possible ban:
Could this happen in the UK?
Sir Michael Fallon the Defense Secretary has assured it was not in the UK's project: "No, we don't support that ban. I want our military to be completely open. It is right that the military should be equally open to anybody, irrespective of their race, their colour, their gender their sexuality. That is only right."
UK's defense chiefs also share the Defense Secretary's opinion on the matter and reaffirmed their support toward the participation of transgender people to the British military force.
Rear Admiral Alex Burton, Commander UK Maritime Forces tweeted against the ban:
Civil rights group are now protesting the implementation of the ban, Lambda Legal and OutServe-Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (Outserve-SLDN) have revealed their intention to file a suit after the revelation that a "guidance" policy called "A Guidance Policy for Open Transgender Service Phase Out" was sent to the Defense Secretary James Mattis.
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