--- title: Transgender Military Ban: Fact-Checking Trump’s Claims description: No facts support the President’s claim that healthcare costs will increase if transgender military members continue to serve openly canonical: https://time.com/4877230/trump-transgender-military-ban-myths/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-27T20:39:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T16:46:12.212Z article:section: Ideas og:title: 4 Dangerous Myths About the Transgender Military Ban og:description: What the facts say (and the President doesn't) og:url: https://time.com/4877230/trump-transgender-military-ban-myths/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdfcc2f9357450297/6988d77b22fb8584d1e2227e/transgender-military-myths.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5496 og:image:height: 3092 og:image:alt: Transgender Military Service Ban og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 4 Dangerous Myths About the Transgender Military Ban twitter:description: What the facts say (and the President doesn't) twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdfcc2f9357450297/6988d77b22fb8584d1e2227e/transgender-military-myths.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 4 Dangerous Myths About the Transgender Military Ban > Sponsored content. 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A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Harper Jean Tobin](https://time.com/author/harper-jean-tobin/) ## Harper Jean Tobin Jul 27, 2017 8:39 PM UTC  Human Rights Campaign supporters hold up signs as the House Democrats along with the LGBT Equality Caucus' Transgender Equality Task Force members hold a press conference outside of the Capitol to call on President Trump to reverse his ban on transgender Americans from serving in the military on Tuesday, July 25, 2017. Human Rights Campaign supporters hold up signs as the House Democrats along with the LGBT Equality Caucus' Transgender Equality Task Force members hold a press conference outside of the Capitol to call on President Trump to reverse his ban on transgender Americans from serving in the military on Tuesday, July 25, 2017. Bill Clark—CQ-Roll Call,Inc./Getty Images by [Harper Jean Tobin](https://time.com/author/harper-jean-tobin/) ## Harper Jean Tobin Jul 27, 2017 8:39 PM UTC President Donald Trump [tweeted](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/890193981585444864) yesterday that “the United States Government will not accept or allow [Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity](http://time.com/4874255/donald-trump-transgender-military-cant-serve/) in the U.S. Military.” The messages, quickly denounced by leading members of Congress from both major parties, [confused military leaders ](http://time.com/4876984/ray-mabus-president-donald-trump-transgender-military-service-ban/)— who had not been informed of the change in policy. It also confused many Americans. Why pink-slip thousands of military service members for no reason other than who they are? Why reject the values of honor and integrity, while undermining the readiness the President is pretending to protect? The justifications, when they weren’t transparently cruel, have largely relied on myths. Here are four of the most persistent among them, and why they’re wrong — if not dangerous. **1\. That it improves preparedness**. Currently, over [15,000](https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/research/military-related/us-transgender-military-service/) transgender people [serve in the U.S. armed services](http://time.com/4874380/donald-trump-military-transgender-how-many/), and Trump is attempting to make policy through Twitter that would overturn the current [military policy](https://www.defense.gov/News/Special-Reports/0616%5Ftransgender-policy/). At a time when [0.4% of the U.S. population](https://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/what-percentage-of-americans-have-served-in-the-military/) serves in uniform, removing highly trained, well-qualified, and deeply committed service members does nothing to increase readiness — in fact, it does the opposite. **2\. That it’s the American thing to do**. In the military, there are supposed to be no distinctions among service members — all are Americans serving their country. Like their comrades, transgender service members have committed their lives to serving, and the armed services have invested tremendously in training them. Ending their careers simply because of who they are is an appalling attack on our military and on our nation’s values. It is about bigotry, rather than military readiness, reason or science. It is indefensible, and it cannot stand. **3\. That it saves Americans money**. No facts support the President’s claim that healthcare costs will increase untenably if transgender military members continue to serve openly. A 2016 [study](http://www.rand.org/pubs/research%5Freports/RR1530.html) by the Rand Corporation projected that transition-related healthcare spending would make up only 0.005–0.017% of the Defense Department’s health care budget. This is medical care prescribed by military doctors and supported by every major medical [association](https://www.lambdalegal.org/sites/default/files/publications/downloads/ll%5Ftrans%5Fprofessional%5Fstatements%5F17.pdf). No one begrudges our troops their [health and medical care](http://time.com/4875375/transgender-ban-military-doctors-react/) — singling out transgender troops is irrational and wrong. **4\. That it preserves unit cohesion.** “Military and political leaders insisted that lifting DADT would undermine cohesion, recruitment and retention, but none of these concerns were borne out and the change was uniformly hailed for improving readiness,” said Army Lt. Gen. Claudia Kennedy, retired Army Major Gen. Gale Pollock and retired Army Brig. Gen. Clara Adams-Ender in a recent public [statement](http://thehill.com/policy/defense/336716-retired-generals-to-mattis-dont-delay-accepting-transgender-recruits). The Rand study and actual experience by the Defense Department have shown that soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines are serving with their units and commanding officers, and serving well. We have qualified and trained transgender service members already in place, as well as transgender Americans who are able and willing to join and serve their country. Retaining talented service members — rather than kicking them out them simply because of their gender identity — is the right thing for the country. As Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain [said](https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=80124D36-EF8B-4CBD-A75A-9C6C697CA235) this week, “Any American who meets current medical and readiness standards should be allowed to continue serving. There is no reason to force service members who are able to fight, train and deploy to leave the military — regardless of their gender identity.” Our service members and their families deserve better. Transgender people are our friends, neighbors and coworkers. [Transgender veterans ](http://time.com/4874955/transgender-veterans-reaction-trump-military-ban/)have served with honor, and active duty transgender service members make sacrifices daily. When it comes to being able to serve their country, we should be proud of their service. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4877230/trump-transgender-military-ban-myths/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4877230/trump-transgender-military-ban-myths/"},"headline":"4 Dangerous Myths About the Transgender Military Ban","datePublished":"2017-07-27T20:39:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:46:12.212Z","description":"What the facts say (and the President doesn't)","url":"https://time.com/4877230/trump-transgender-military-ban-myths/","keywords":["Military"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdfcc2f9357450297/6988d77b22fb8584d1e2227e/transgender-military-myths.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Harper Jean Tobin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/harper-jean-tobin/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdfcc2f9357450297/6988d77b22fb8584d1e2227e/transgender-military-myths.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Transgender Military Service Ban","caption":"Transgender Military Service Ban","creditText":"Bill Clark—CQ-Roll Call,Inc./Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/military/","name":"Military"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4877230/trump-transgender-military-ban-myths/","name":"4 Dangerous Myths About the Transgender Military Ban"}}]}] ```