Trump Executive Order on Transgender Soldiers Correct

President Trump has just signed an executive order prohibiting taxpayer-funded accommodations for trans-identifying people in the military. As was the case during Trump’s first term, his action is being portrayed as a setback for civil rights. It is no such thing. For one thing, it violates no one’s “rights.” Transgenders continue to possess all of the rights of their fellow citizens, but there is no “right” to serve in the military. The military rejects many people based on physical and psychological conditions.

And indeed, despite claims by transgender advocates, it does not actually “ban” service by transgenders. It merely prohibits radical medical procedures that adversely affect the readiness of the force. According to the New York Post, these include hormone replacement drugs, cosmetic genital surgery, cosmetic breast removal, and mixed-sex housing.

About the Author

Mackubin Thomas Owens

Mackubin Thomas Owens is a senior national security fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute , editing its journal Orbis from 2008 to 2020. A Marine Corps infantry veteran of the Vietnam War, he was a professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College from 1987 to 2015. He is the author of US Civil–Military Relations after 9/11: Renegotiating the Civil-Military Bargain.

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President Trump has just signed an executive order prohibiting taxpayer-funded accommodations for trans-identifying people in the military. As was the case during Trump’s first term, his action is being portrayed as a setback for civil rights. It is no such thing. For one thing, it violates no one’s “rights.” Transgenders continue to possess all of the rights of their fellow citizens, but there is no “right” to serve in the military. The military rejects many people based on physical and psychological conditions.

And indeed, despite claims by transgender advocates, it does not actually “ban” service by transgenders. It merely prohibits radical medical procedures that adversely affect the readiness of the force. According to the New York Post, these include hormone replacement drugs, cosmetic genital surgery, cosmetic breast removal, and mixed-sex housing.

About the Author

Mackubin Thomas Owens

Mackubin Thomas Owens is a senior national security fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute , editing its journal Orbis from 2008 to 2020. A Marine Corps infantry veteran of the Vietnam War, he was a professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College from 1987 to 2015. He is the author of US Civil–Military Relations after 9/11: Renegotiating the Civil-Military Bargain.