The following article is a collaboration between two Odyssey creators. Differing opinions will be marked with the initials of the creator.

Wednesday started like any other day of the week for most people. Going to work, classes, or wherever they had to be. For one person in the United States, Wednesday morning was the chosen time to make an announcement that would affect thousands of Americans. Around nine in the morning on July 26th, President Donald J. Trump made the following announcement;

“After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our 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. Thank you”

The announcement was made via Twitter, in three separate tweets:

It’s been two days since the announcement, and much has happened since then. Amidst an outpouring of support from many prominent figures in the media, the “generals and military experts” and Trump had a lot to say in regards to the announcement.

Secretary of Defense, James Mattis was reportedly given one day’s notice of Trump’s decision to shift policy. His chief spokesperson, Dana White, has made a statement for Mattis saying “The Department of Defense is awaiting formal guidance from the White House as a follow-up to the commander-in-chief’s announcement on military service by transgender personnel. We will provide detailed guidance to the department in the near future for how this policy change will be implemented."

The statement made by Mattis’ spokesperson echoes what the Joint Chiefs of Staff have also announced. Chairmen Joseph Dunford made a statement regarding the abrupt announcement. He stated that there would be no changes to the current policy on transgender individuals in the military. There wouldn’t be a change until the “President’s direction has been received by the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary has issued implementation guidelines.”

Unfortunately, so much weight had already been given to the President’s announcement - and rightfully so. Despite the rulings that Trump’s various tweets are not equivalent to official policy, many people still take them seriously. The problem may lay in giving his thoughts on social media so much power. The only weight his tweets carry lie in the importance we afford them. Because they are not considered official policies, they cannot change anything. What can change something is the direct orders from the President, which makes it scary to see exactly what he’s saying online.

For now, Dunford has stated that “we will continue to treat all of our personnel with respect. As importantly, given the current fight and the challenges we face, we will all remain focused on accomplishing our assigned missions.”

As far as the general public has reacted, it has been a mix of sadness and affirmation. When Trump first tweeted that the military will not accept or allow Transgender Americans to serve in the military the public was devastated. Many people expressed their disappointment in the President and support for the transgender community via twitter:

As far as support for the ban, they do have a few arguments. Some supporters of the ban argue that it will be expensive to let transgender people serve in the military. They claim that gender transition health care, the range of transition-related treatments that DoD will need to provide, the potential costs associated with these treatments will simply be too high. A recent study performed by RAND showed this is untrue. Researchers found “coverage to transgender personnel indicated that active-component health care costs would increase by between $2.4 million and $8.4 million annually, representing a 0.04- to 0.13-percent increase in active-component health care expenditures.” this would include mental health care and treatments. These are relatively low numbers. That is .017% of the healthcare budget for the DOD (US Department of Defense). The military spends five times more on Viagra than it does on trans health care, so this is not about money.

Another argument is that Transgender individuals will want, and receive special treatment. Trans rights are human rights which all individuals deserve. As shown in the DOD INSTRUCTION 1300.28 IN-SERVICE TRANSITION FOR TRANSGENDER SERVICE MEMBERS their rights are clearly stated. This document says “Any medical care and treatment provided to an individual Service member in the process of gender transition will be provided in the same manner as other medical care and treatment. Nothing in this issuance will be construed to authorize a commander to deny medically necessary treatment to a Service member.”

Just because an individual identifies as transgender they are still deserving of their human rights. Also in regards to them receiving special treatment, the document it explains how The Military Departments and Services recognize a Service member’s gender by the member’s gender stated in the DEERS - which is the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System. Service members will be assigned to use “those berthing, bathroom, and shower facilities associated with the member’s gender marker in DEERS” which ensures equal treatment. The military's primary focus is that a service member is fit for their duties and combat. This document also states that “Any determination that a transgender Service member is non-deployable at any time will be consistent with established Military Department and Service standards, as applied to other Service members whose deployability is similarly affected in comparable circumstances unrelated to gender transition” which means being transgender means you should not and will not be subjected to discrimination due to gender change.

The third argument that supported the ban is that transgender people in the military will affect unit cohesion or disrupt the unity and togetherness of the unit. This argument has been made in the past with many other groups as well and people have learned to accept people and overcome differences. First it was African Americans would cause a disruption, then it was women would cause a disruption, then it was gay and lesbian people will cause a disruption. Every time diversity has approached the military they members have learned that just because someone differs in race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation, they still have perform and carry out their duties as a service member and as time goes on more and more people are accepting.

In conclusion, the following two paragraphs detail the initial reactions of both creators of this article, first from Beaudry, then from Lunn. Separate viewpoints will be designated by the creator’s initials (ie. BB or NL).

BB: My initial thoughts on Trump’s decision to not allow or accept Transgender people in the military was that it was a huge step back from all the progress that America has made with accepting diversity. It saddens me that people would be denied the right to protect our country simply because they identify as transgender. I think anyone who is willing to put their life on the line to protect our country should have the right to do so. I have no idea why it matters if someone is white, black, gay, straight, bi, or transgender. If someone is willing to risk their life for strangers, that's brave and noble no matter what. Race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation should not matter. In the eyes of combat, everyone is the same. I've heard that supporters say that sexual assault statistics will go up if transgenders are allowed in the military. If that is the case then we should focus on getting people to not sexually assault people rather than telling people they cannot serve because they might get assaulted.

NL: When I first saw President Trump’s announcement, I was shocked. After all, only a year ago I had written a reaction to Mr. Obama’s statement regarding transgender individuals being openly accepted in the United States military. Once the shock had passed, I felt a variety of mixed emotions regarding the topic. I wanted to know where this was coming from, what the Department of Defense had to say, what Transgender individuals were saying in response to the announcement. To deny someone the ability to serve our country and protect our freedom because of this one factor - that confused me, and it still does. There are medical reasons for all sorts of people being denied entrance into the military, and they all have good reasons to back up exactly why that is. Amidst my sadness at the announcement, the shock and confusion I felt, all I could wonder was what was it that made our President announce this, and where we go from here.

What are your thoughts and feelings on the President's announcement? Will you be personally affected by the shift in policy change? How do you feel about the President of the United States making such important announcements via Twitter? Start a conversation today, let us know how you feel below if you'd like! Or let us know what kind of reactions you've observed on your own. We welcome any input to broaden our own horizons and those of anyone else who happens to read this article.