Trump anti gay military

The Trump Administration’s Trans person Military Ban

Background:

On July 26, 2017, then-President Donald Trump announced through a series of tweets that transgender individuals will no longer be allowed to attend in the U.S. military.

In announcing the ban, Trump claimed he was advised by “my generals,” but news reports indicated that the Pentagon was caught “off guard” by the tweets and was unprepared for the policy convert — suggesting that the move was not in proof recommended by military leaders. American Oversight submitted subsequent FOIA requests seeking additional records from the Defense Department to determine if the White House and military personnel were aware of this policy decision before Trump’s tweets.

Emails uncovered by American Oversight in September 2018 showed that senior Pentagon leaders were unaware of the president’s announcement before it happened and, in the words of one highest military official, “everyone was caught flat-footed.”

The full set of emails we obtained from the hours following Trump’s tweets are available online here.

American Oversight is continuing to inspect what the Defense Department knew before this policy alter was re

Reports: Trump Graceful To Reinstate & Expand Ban on Transgender Military Service Members

WASHINGTON — This weekend, reports emerged that Donald Trump has begun planning for an Executive Order that would reinstate and expand upon his first administration’s exclude on transgender military service members. And while nothing is certain and no concrete policy has been put forward, the potential for this executive move is stoking devastating uncertainty for gender nonconforming people across the country.

As the United States military continues to descend short of its recruitment targets, the discriminatory ban, as reported, could terminate the employment of an estimated 15,000 people, deeming them “unfit to serve”–despite the fact that they meet every qualification. The Combined States military is the largest employer of transgender people in the nation. Recent studies present that transgender people are twice as likely as the general population to serve in the military.

Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson issued the accompanying statement:

“Banning thousands of qualified transgender service members– who assemble every qualification to serve and possess been serving wi

At a news conference on August 8, 2024, former President Trump criticized the record of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, chosen last week as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, including Walz’s support for LGBTQ people (record here). Trump claimed Walz was “heavy into the transgender world,” without detail on what he meant, or recognition that trans person people are part of everyone’s world.

The rhetoric matched Trump’s comments to Fox News the morning before: “He’s very heavy into transgender. Anything transgender he thinks is great, and he’s not where the country is on anything.” 

GLAAD’s Voter Poll shows a majority of voters of all parties oppose candidates who campaign against transgender people.

Trump’s own document shows he has heavy interest in targeting and restricting trans person people and plans to persist this record if elected.

Trump’s 2024 platform on transgender Americans includes:

  • Outlawing gender-affirming care for minors at the federal level, according to his “Agenda 47”
  • Using the government to investigate and potentially halt trans health care. “Upon my inauguration, I will direct the FDA to convene an independent outside panel to investigate whether transg

    Service members sue Trump administration over transgender military service ban

    Lambda Legal and Human Rights Campaign, two primary LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, filed a federal lawsuit on Thursday challenging the Trump administration over the president’s executive order banning trans people from serving in the military.

    The lawsuit, which was obtained by ABC News, was filed in the U.S. District Court-Western District of Washington on behalf of six active duty transgender service members, a transgender person searching to enlist in the military, as well as Seattle human rights corporation Gender Justice League.

    "By categorically excluding transgender people, the 2025 Military Ban and related federal policy and directives violate the equivalent protection and due process guarantees of the Fifth Amendment and the free speech guarantee of the First Amendment," the lawsuit said. "They lack any legitimate or rational justification, let alone the compelling and exceedingly persuasive ones required. Accordingly, Plaintiffs explore declaratory, and preliminary and permanent injunctive, relief."

    U.S. Navy Commander Emily "Hawking" Shilling, who according to the