Transgender Military Rights Under Trump: New Rollback Rule From Obama Administration Can Affect Servicemen And Transgender Students

Military families are reportedly concerned for their children after the Trump administration issued a directive this week allowing public schools to hinder transgender students from using bathrooms applicable to their gender identity, Military Times reported Thursday.

Through the Justice and Education Departments, Trump upended the previous administration’s directive but the new report indicated it’s unclear if it will also affect schools under the Defense Department’s purview. Only back in July did the military, under former President Barack Obama and his Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, allow transgender men and women to openly serve. That directive came five years after gays and lesbians were afforded the same rights.

There is an estimated 2,500 to 7,000 transgender service members in the active duty military with 1,500 to 4,000 in the reserves, according to a RAND study in 2016.

In October, a memorandum allowed transgender children access to all around military bases, including bathrooms, and a spokesperson “indicated” to Military Times that a decision on whether Trump’s new order would affect that memo and the military’s previous allowances to transgender servicemen and their families is on the way.

However, the same spokesperson also declined to state if the Defense Department will take a closer look at the current policy.

The report also highlighted new Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’ previous statements to Military Times last year about the military's main focus.

“We have to be very careful that we do not undercut battlefield effectiveness with shortsighted social programs,” Mattis said.

Trump’s latest action towards transgender people, including those in the military, is not the first incident to cause worry amongst servicemen and their families. Earlier this month, military spouses told International Business Times they feared Trump would start a new war, were critical of his decisions to reshape the National Security Council and were concerned with his comments to the Central Intelligence Agency shortly after his inauguration.