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I was serving in the US military the first time Trump was president and he tried to ban trans people then. The Department of Defense told all of us to not take action yet, and they managed to talk Trump out of the decision.
But that was when we had a Democrat majority in the other government branches. This time, it's all Republican, and they love cutting our military pay and benefits. Don't let them fool you; they act like they care about the military but they just use us for the good press. If it weren't for Democrats, we wouldn't have any benefits left. I'm retired now, but I expect my pension and VA medical benefits to be gutted under Trump. I might actually have to end my retirement and go back to work.
I expect trans people will actually be banned this time. Plus gay people; Republicans were pissed we let gay folks openly serve a decade ago. And women's roles in the military will probably be restricted too, if not outright banned. My wife served in the military too and she's had her own challenges with people not respecting her authority because she was a woman. I imagine it'll get far worse soon, with Trump's presidency inviting misogynists out into the open.
I was in the military a couple of decades ago. I couldn't even imagine what someone who is trans goes through to be in the military. That has to be a motherfucker who absolutely wants to be there.
There (is/was) some incentive there to cover surgeries, i think? That and, frankly, representation matters (especially to leadership, while recruiting numbers are low).
The first outwardly trans person i met was a servicemember while I was working for the DoD, and that made me start questioning all the anger and fury about trans people.
There (is/was) some incentive there to cover surgeries, i think?
Yeah, while serving in the US military, you are allowed one free "cosmetic" surgery. They define cosmetic as any unnecessary surgery you elect to have. Most people used to use it to get laser eye surgery to fix their vision, before they successfully argued that fixing your vision improved your ability to do your job, so it's not "cosmetic." I knew a few women who used it for breast reduction surgery. (Large breasts are not comfortable/functional in heavily armored gear.)
At some point in the last decade, they started allowing people to use your cosmetic surgery for trans operations. So a lot of people outed themselves, filling out the paperwork to have the operation on the govt's dime.
A couple years after the process started, Trump just sent out a DoD-wide notice that trans people were being banned. So many people had publicly outed themselves by this point; there was no way to reneg on all that official paperwork and go back in hiding.
Thankfully, the DoD stood up for us then and got Trump to back down. But he's determined to not let anyone stop him this time as president.
I'm retired now, but I expect my pension and VA medical benefits to be gutted under Trump.
There is a little more effort required to fuck with already granted compensation benefits than there is new claims. The medical care, and possibly the pension, may be easier to get rid of. Major budget cuts for the hospitals would be plenty enough to ruin all the past years of progress.
Best bet is to make sure your dav/veteran group membership is up to date for the inevitable lawsuits, and for a good direct news sources on any changes that may be made. And also avoid making any compensation claims after any big law changes that make things worse.