On July 26, President Donald Trump first proposed to ban all transgender people from serving in the military. According to CNN, Trump said the decision to bar transgender troops from serving was because the “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” (cnn.com). Not only is this assertion disrespectful, it is also factually inaccurate.

   The actual costs of transgender troops in the military is minuscule. The official website of The Atlantic states that in the past, the military has not covered gender-transition surgeries. Even if the military did decide to fund gender-transition surgeries, there would be a spending increase of only 0.04 to 0.13 percent. This is nothing in comparison to the annual $84 million that the military spends on medication for erectile dysfunction (theatlantic.com).

   The so-called “tremendous medical costs” of transgender troops would be only one tenth of the $84 million. The relative costs drops into the ten-thousandths of a percent when taken in context of the Department of Defense budget as a whole, which is expected to be proposed at $640 billion (theatlantic.com). The cost of transgender troops is nothing when looking at the entire budget, proving how Trump is blatantly disrespecting those who serve by taking away their right to serve in the military. In fact, according to NBC News, “…a new report estimates banning transgender service members would set the U.S. back $960 million” (nbcnews.com). This report, by the Palm Center, and current and retired professors at the Naval Postgraduate School, contradicts Trump’s initial claim. By banning transgender citizens from serving in the military, Trump is only hurting the U.S.

   Every person eligible to serve this country should be allowed to do so, no matter what gender they are or were. The Washington Post states that Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. said, “I believe any individual who meets the physical and mental standards, and is worldwide deployable and is currently serving, should be afforded the opportunity to continue to serve” (washingtonpost.com). The Pentagon’s top general disagrees with this ban, proving how the ban is pointless. Any person fit for duty should have the right to join and serve in the military. “I do believe [transgender people] should be allowed to serve based on merit and qualification. They should not be denied the opportunity just because they are transgender,” said JROTC Member Nicha Kamduang. The gender of an individual should not matter when determining if they are qualified to serve in the military, and it is disrespectful to restrict transgender people from joining.

   The U.S. Army is considered to be an all-volunteer force, and by preventing a certain group of individuals from serving, Trump is also violating their basic human rights. By barring transgender individuals from joining  the military, Trump violates their constitutional rights of free speech, equal protection, and due process. Trump provides the excuse that they will be a financial burden, but in comparison to the overall budget and other military spendings, the costs of having transgender troops are fractional. There is no real need to ban transgender troops from serving,  and this therefore leads to the question, is Trump simply transphobic?