This Wednesday, President Trump took to Twitter and announced a plan to ban transgender people from joining the military, saying their presence would cause “tremendous medical costs and disruption.”
“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,” Trump said in a series of tweets.
If Trump’s plan’s are implemented, it would mean reversing an Obama-era policy of allowing transgender people to serve in the military openly. The announcement sparked a huge backlash, and one military hero who also happens to be transgender had a special message for the President.
Speaking to Business Insider, retired Navy SEAL Team 6 member Kristin Beck said that being transgender “doesn’t matter,” adding that the most important thing is that military members “do your service.”
“Let’s meet face to face and you tell me I’m not worthy,” Kristin Beck, a 20-year veteran of the Navy SEALs said. “Transgender doesn’t matter. Do your service.”
From Business Insider:
Beck is not just your average service member. Born Christopher Beck, she served for 20 years in the Navy with SEAL Teams 1, 5, and, eventually, the elite 6. She deployed 13 times over two decades, including stints in Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. She received the Bronze Star award for valor and the Purple Heart for wounds suffered in combat.
https://twitter.com/mileskahn/status/890213652636340224
According to Beck, Trump’s policy change would affect transgender people who are already serving in the military. “We are liberty’s light. If you can’t defend that for everyone that’s an American citizen, that’s not right,” Beck said, adding that Trump’s mentioning of medical services for trans people is only “about .000001% of the military budget.”
“I was defending individual liberty,” she continued. “I defended for Republicans. I defended for Democrats. I defended for everyone. … They care more about the airplane or the tank than they care about people,” Beck said. “They don’t care about people. They don’t care about human beings.”
Featured image via Gage Skidmore (Flickr)
