Caitlyn Jenner slammed the ban on transgender individuals serving in the military, announced on Twitter by President Donald Trump Wednesday morning, taking to the same social media service to blast the president for breaking a “promise.”
“There are 15,000 patriotic transgender Americans in the US military fighting for all of us,” the transgender former Olympian tweeted. “What happened to your promise to fight for them?”
There are 15,000 patriotic transgender Americans in the US military fighting for all of us. What happened to your promise to fight for them? https://t.co/WzjypVC8Sr
— Caitlyn Jenner (@Caitlyn_Jenner) July 26, 2017
Earlier Wednesday, the president used his preferred means of communication to proclaim that transgender individuals would not be allowed “to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military.”
“After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow… Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming,” Trump wrote.
He continued: “Victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you.”
Trump’s announcement would reverse a decision by former Defense Secretary Ash Carter last year that allowed transgender soldiers to serve openly, and today there are more than 4,000 doing so. It also goes against repeated claims made during the campaign that he would be an ally to the LGBT community.