"I kept hearing these assertions from the government and then repeated by laypeople that trans folks were costing us too much, harming unit cohesion, not ready for deployment. So I was literally looking for that data. And I just could not find a single study that said that."
"The Pentagon spends roughly $5 million a year on care associated with transgender service members, and only about $1 million of that is for gender-affirming medical care. Those figures are a tiny percentage of a military health system budget measured in the tens of billions. The military spends vastly more on treating obesity, musculoskeletal injuries, pregnancy and childbirth, vision problems, and the ordinary ailments of a large, young population."
"If transgender care is disqualifying on cost grounds, McNamara says, then so is nearly everything else. The argument just floats away."
The Trump administration's January 2025 ban on transgender military service relies on claims about costs, unit cohesion, and readiness. However, a comprehensive analysis of 58 empirical studies published in the International Journal of Transgender Health found no supporting evidence for these assertions. The Pentagon spends approximately $5 million annually on transgender service member care, with only $1 million for gender-affirming medical care—a negligible portion of the military's multi-billion dollar health budget. The military spends significantly more on treating obesity, injuries, pregnancy, and vision problems. The readiness argument similarly lacks foundation, as only a small percentage of transgender service members undergo surgery while serving, and many do not receive hormone therapy despite seeking it.
#transgender-military-service #policy-analysis #empirical-research #military-readiness #healthcare-costs
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