Thank you to all transgender people who have served or are currently serving in our military.

Actually, thank you to everyone who has served or is currently serving in our military, because in fact, you are all equals who are fighting to protect and preserve our rights as Americans.

Thank you.

We are all brothers and sisters in this great nation. So then, why does one brother or sister looking different or identifying differently change that? Why does this ideology of family change? How can we say we are all equals and then discriminate against our brothers and sisters who are putting their lives on the line for ours?

These are real human beings willing to serve their country, and now they're being considered a burden? To me, that is more than heartbreaking.

You all are equals… or so I thought. That was until I heard that Trump intended to reinstate a ban on transgender individuals who wished to or were serving in the military.

Yes, taking us back even further than the times of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” back to the times of World War II. A time where anyone who wasn’t heterosexual was denied the right to serve in the military solely on the grounds of their sexual orientation. If caught, these individuals were subject to dishonorable discharge or even imprisonment.

We supposedly progressed in 1994 under a facade put up by the Clinton Administration when we had the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy instituted. This policy meant that anyone who was gay, lesbian, or bisexual was allowed to be discriminated against in the military if they were found to be open about their non-heterosexual sexualities.

If soldiers were found to be LGBTQ they were discharged and not honorably. They lost any and all veteran benefits despite their military service. They were completely demeaned by the military for their identity. It was also made evident that this policy was solely to discriminate against sexual minorities, as during the Iraq War many gay Arab linguists were found to be discharged which wasn’t in the best interest of the military.

We actually progressed under the Obama administration as the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010 was put into effect on September 20, 2011. This officially allowed anyone to serve in the military regardless of their sexual orientation. We finally took a step forward and toward equal rights for those in the LGBTQ community.

But here we are now taking steps all the way back to almost a century ago.

Why exactly does it matter if a transgender person serves in the military? There are clearly more important things to worry about in military operations than how a person identifies.

When it comes to mental fitness, being transgender doesn’t change your ability to serve. Being transgender isn’t a mental disorder.

Yes, transgender people can suffer from Gender Dysphoria (which is in fact not a mental illness), but that mental distress is found to be most commonly the result of societal rejection and violence rather than from simply being trans.

Thus, since being transgender isn’t actually a mental disorder in its own right, transgender people aren’t handicapped and consequently shouldn’t be barred from the military.

If a transgender person being in the military hinders a straight person from performing to the best of their ability I think that’s a problem, but that’s not on the transgender person.

There’s nothing mentally wrong with a transgender person and especially nothing that would stand in the way of them being capable of serving in the military. There is, however, something wrong with a person whose performance would be hindered just by working alongside transgender people, and I think that is more concerning than a transgender person being in the military.

When it comes to the financial side of the argument, transgender troops don't actually drive up costs at all. Suggesting that they shouldn't be allowed into the military for costs is an unsubstantiated argument.

A 2016 study by the nonpartisan RAND corporation found that there are approximately 2,450 transgender individuals in active duty assignments and 1,510 in the Selective Service and that the medical costs of all gender transition-related health care among military members would amount to $2.4-8.4 million; this accounts for 0.005% to 0.0017% of all Department of Defense health care spending.

If a transgender person can pass all the required tests then what makes them any different from any straight person serving in the military? The fact that they identify differently? Or is it the fact that they don’t fit the status quo?

It’s not bothersome that this ban could possibly happen; rather, it’s enraging that there was even a discussion that this could be a possibility.

It’s blood boiling that America could care so little for our armed forces and for its own people. In a nation that’s so diverse, we are somehow constantly finding ways to continue to divide the nation and marginalize groups.

I’m disgusted. I’m heartbroken. But mostly, I’m disappointed. Not just in our president for suggesting such a policy, but at the startling amount of people who support his belief in this unconstitutional proposed ban.

These backward policies just bring to light how the LGBTQ community simply isn’t considered equal in America. They are continually told by our own nation that they're not worthy of fair or equal treatment unless they're straight.

In a place as progressive as America, where we pride ourselves on being a melting pot, one would think we wouldn’t be discriminating but rather accepting of differences.

What makes America so great is that we are all different yet we are all here coexisting and striving for our own American excellence.

I’d like to say thank you to all those who fight for LGBTQ rights because you’re doing something your president doesn’t have the courage to do. Trans people are real people, and they deserve the same respect and rights as any other citizen.

I think America can do better, and I think America deserves better.