“No Modifications” Will Be Made to Current U.S. Military Policy Regarding Transgender Individuals in Military

Earlier this week, President Donald Trump tweeted that transgender citizens should be barred from serving in the U.S. Military. His argument was that it would be too costly to allow transgender individuals to serve in the military and that it “cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail.”

However, as Politico reports, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs wrote to top military officers that there will be “no modifications” regarding the transgender policy in the U.S. Military. Politico also reported that Marine Gen. Joe Dunford told the chiefs of military branches that the military will “treat all of [its] personnel with respect.”

“I know there are questions about [Wednesday’s] announcement on the transgender policy by the President,” Dunford said. “There will be no modifications to the current policy until the President’s direction has been received by the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary has issued implementation guidance.”

It appears that the U.S. Military has chosen to ignore Trump’s stance on the matter, considering his expressed opinions on Twitter have not been enacted into law as of now. The President is surely capable of articulating his beliefs on social media. Until those opinions are transformed into legal obligations, though, institutions such as the U.S. Military have full authority to conduct business as they see fit.

See the original article from Politico here and learn more about Trump’s stance on transgender people in the U.S. Military here.