It’s very difficult to quantify exactly how many transgender people are currently serving in the US Military.  Especially in the current environment, it’s not safe to come out. I’ve seen estimates ranging from 2,000 – 8,000 people.

One argument for removing them from service is that gender dysphoria costs too much to treat. Read this paragraph from the Associated Press article of March 12, 2025 at this link https://apnews.com/article/trump-transgender-troops-ban-lawsuit-87921968ba20606efc25584c8bb70a31 

“The judge said the Defense Department has spent roughly $5.2 million annually over the past decade to provide medical care to treat gender dysphoria — a miniscule percentage of the military’s multi-billion dollar budget. As a point of comparison, Reyes noted that the military spends around $42 million per year on medication treating erectile dysfunction.”

There is nothing true about transgender service members being less than their colleagues in terms of ability, morals, honor, or military readiness.  Replacing 2,000-8,000 already trained and long serving people in our military will cost a great deal and take a great deal of time. Recruiting for the military is not in such a comfortable state that we can easily replace these trained and experienced service members.  I consider it wasteful to remove these people from military service. It’s also immoral and disgusting to suggest that they are less than their colleagues in any way.

If a trained and experienced transgender person is defending me, I don’t give a crap what their experience is with gender as long as they do their job. They have, they will,  and there is no good reason to remove them from service.

Imagine what it would feel like if we had a president – of any gender –  who decided to keep the transgender service members and stop paying for erectile dysfunction meds in the military to save money.  Just imagine what that would feel like.