Instead of moving towards equality for everyone, society in 2017 finds itself once again shifting far from it. On July 26, Trump reached out on Twitter to state that the “United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military.” The transgender youth of America who dream of nothing more than to serve and protect their country are no longer able to live out their dreams. Trump’s decision strips transgenders from their rights and freedom. This ban has set America back decades of accomplished progress in the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer (LGBTQ) community.

With the new transgender ban, transgender people who are currently serving may struggle to find employment outside of the military. In addition, transgender people are already facing high rates of homelessness and unemployment and the ban will only increase the numbers. The cost of discharging and replacing transgender troops is around $960 million dollars, meaning that the degrading ban isn’t beneficial for the economy or trans people. Currently, in 30 states, transgender people are usually fired or not hired due to their gender identity. This ban doesn’t alleviate the struggles transgender people face, in fact, it only aggravates the conflict by denying them their rights.

“I think Trump’s military ban is really messed up because American citizens should have the right to join the army if they want to. Trump makes it seem like transgender people aren’t people when in reality they are,” junior Lucianne Vivas said.

It might seem that some people support Trump’s decision despite the fact that transgenders are being denied their rights. They argue that the military cannot afford to spend budget money on sex changes when that money should be used for defense and guns. It’s depicted as if transgender soldiers are a burden that the U.S. Military can no longer be bothered by. With the excommunication of transgenders in the military, it’s expected that the U.S. Military will have more “victories.”

Any American who meets the current enlisting standards should be allowed to serve or continue serving. Excluding the transgender community won’t strengthen the military’s readiness, it will only weaken it. In addition, the cost of gender-transition surgeries by the military health-care would be between $2.4 million and $8.4 million annually, which is nothing compared to the $84 million that the military spends on medication for erectile dysfunction. Trump previously stated that he was an advocate for the LGTBQ community but failed to protect one of the biggest groups found in the community.

It’s unfair to ban a human, who can easily protect their country, because of how much it costs to have a gender-transition surgery. The military health-care can easily splurge a massive amount of money on medication for erectile dysfunction, yet fails to help a veteran or current soldier become the gender they wish to be.