Stage 7 : Trump's proposed transgender military ban is hurtful to the American society

   On July 26, President Trump caught everyone by surprise, when he tweeted his intentions of banning transgender people from serving the military. Trump's reasoning for his decision was that it was too expensive to pay for transgender troops' healthcare and the potential disruptions it might cause. While I do understand the President's concern, I feel that his actions will bring about greater harm compared to the benefit of reducing the cost of the military spending.

President Trump reasoned that the cost of  transition related treatment will be "tremendous." A study done by the Rand Corporation shows that the costs of such treatment will add between 2.4 million and 8.4 million dollars to the military's annual budget. While the number may seem high, this will only increase the military spending by 0.017%.  This cost is pretty insignificant compared to the potential cost of retraining troops to replace transgender troops. Furthermore, some trans gendered members of the military may have valuable experiences that are simply priceless. For example, ex-SEAL Kristin Beck , who had been deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Her experience on the field will be extremely valuable to future soldiers. By preventing someone like her from serving or contributing to the military, a lot of such knowledge is lost.

Another reason why I think that the ban is hurtful to the American society, is because it sets precedent of alienating communities that are integral to the American society . Even though, we are only talking about banning transgender people from serving, this can create a slippery slope for the government to enact policies that discriminate and exclude groups. This in turn can create a lot of mistrust and dissatisfaction with the government, which makes it difficult for the government to work with these communities. I believe that it is essential that a government works closely with its people to improve society. Therefore as the United States is made up of many different communities, all of which are equally important, it is vital that the government do not take actions that alienates them.