The Supreme Court of the United States ruled favorably on President Trump’s transgender military ban Trump, who has been pushing this ban despite little support from the public and military personnel, has consistently cited medical costs as the reasoning behind the ban. However, due to his and his administration’s repeated anti-LGBTQ+ stances the
real issue lies much deeper in hidden and implicit prejudices.
Trump said that the military loses too much money to justify having transgender soldiers. However, the true facts highlight the negligible cost of supporting transgender military personnel. According to the Military Times analysis, the military spends five times the amount it spends on transgender medical costs on Viagra alone. Thus, it is clear that Trump is not purely motivated by economic reasons, but by personal prejudices against the LGBTQ+ community.
The truth is that no one benefits from this transgender military ban. The truth that Americans need to understand is that this law does not help the average American in any way, yet instead it sends a message to the transgender people of America that they are not welcome in military service. We cannot complacently allow this to happen in America. Amidst constantly changing news stories, this particular ruling has been kept relatively hidden from mass media, despite momentary resistance when the ban’s intentions were announced. Now that the Supreme Court has ruled in the bans favor, not enough people are talking about it or taking action. That is the goal of the Trump administration: to have this prejudiced law pass without resistance.
Now is the time to stir up resistance to this law and make it known that the general public is not complacent in perpetuating prejudice. We must encourage the lower courts to appeal this decision and use their position to stall and eventually stop this ban from being enacted. Even though SCOTUS bestowed their approval on Trump, they left enough loopholes open so that smaller courts can stop this law from being enacted. All eyes are on the lower courts as we wait and see if federal judges utilize their position of power to challenge this case decision. In the meantime, it is essential that we voice our resistance.