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Pros And Cons Of Transgender Soldiers In The Military

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Did you know that 87 percent of students not going to college right out of high school do NOT meet the military recruitment standards? So why would we want to refuse nearly 1 percent of our military from serving (Feinberg)? Since Donald Trump was inaugurated, transgender recruiting for the military has decreased (Brook). Then on July 26, 2017, President Donald Trump tweeted that the U.S. military would no longer be accepting transgender soldiers in the military (Ingraham). This reverses the policy Barack Obama established in June 2016 when transgenders weren’t allowed in the military (McLaughlin). Although many believe the medical costs of having transgenders in the military are too expensive, they are just as accepted and prepared to fight as other soldiers. The main reason President Donald Trump declared transgenders were no longer going to be accepted in the military was because our military can’t afford the extra costs of transgender medicines and procedures. There was even a report written on our bad military budget by the Congressional Budget Office in 2014 titled, “Approaches to Reducing Federal Spending on Military Healthcare”. Right now in the military, there are currently 250 transgender personnel transitioning. Altogether, it costs the military $31 million for the 250 transgender personnel, about $124,000 - $140,000 per person (Pulley). A survey conducted by RAND corporation says that the transgender medical costs would only increase the military budget by .13

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