President-elect Donald Trump told the audience at AmericaFest, an annual event held by the bigoted right wing Turning Point USA in Phoenix, Arizona on Dec. 22, that he would end transgender people and surgery, despite the scientific evidence that supports the existence of transgender people, reports Them and Forbes Breaking News.
It will be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female… we are going to end the transgender lunacy… get transgender out of the military and out of our elementary schools and middle schools and high schools.
Defense sources told The Times that Trump would ban transgender people from the U.S. military with an executive order:
The order could come on his first day back in the White House, January 20. There are believed to be about 15,000 active service personnel who are transgender. They would be medically discharged, which would determine that they were unfit to serve.
It would also lead to a ban on trans people joining the military and would come at a time when almost all branches of the American armed forces are failing to meet recruitment targets.
Title IX experts told K-12Dive that a Trump presidency threatens LGBTQ+ protections put in place by President Joe Biden:
Trump’s victory triggered “a profound sense of loss and concern for the future,” said Melanie Willingham-Jaggers, executive director of K-12 LGTBQ+ advocacy organization GLSEN.
“Our young people could face increased discrimination, reduced access to safe spaces, and diminished legal recognition, particularly for transgender students,” Willingham-Jaggers added.
(Sources: Them, The Times, K-12Dive, Forbes Breaking News/YouTube, Cleveland Clinic)