Donald Trump plans to reinstate trans military ban if re-elected US President
“We had it banned, we had it banned”
Former US President Donald Trump has told supporters he wants to bring back the exclusion of transgender people from the military.
The ban was overturned by President Joe Biden in 2021, after it was brought it into effect in April 2019.
This meant existing trans service people were allowed to remain, while new recruits were locked out.
“Transgender servicemembers will no longer be subject to the possibility of discharge or separation on the basis of gender identity,” the White House said, after Biden’s reversal.
“I’ll also restore the ban on transgender in the military… We had it banned, we had it banned” – Donald Trump
“President Biden believes that gender identity should not be a bar to military service, and that America’s strength is found in its diversity,” a statement added at the time.
However, with Trump seeking re-election in 2024, he has now vowed to bring the ban back during a rally on Tuesday (8 August).
“I will ban the Department of Veterans Affairs from wasting a single cent to fund transgender surgeries or sex-change procedures,” he told a crowd in New Hampshire this week.
“Those precious taxpayer dollars should be going to care for our veterans in need, not to refund radical gender experiments for the communist left.
“I’ll also restore the ban on transgender in the military… We had it banned, we had it banned.”
Trump even went on to claim generals “did not like” transgender people serving in the armed forces during a bizarre impersonation moments later.
He announced on Twitter back in 2017 that the US would no longer “accept or allow” transgender people into the army. At the time, he claimed this was due to “tremendous medical costs and disruption.”
The Trump administration, which lasted between 2016 and 2020, was particularly devastating for the LGBTQ+ community.
LGBTQ healthcare protections were stripped away, but have since been restored by the United States Government under Biden.