Well that's stupid. There are Majors, and Chiefs that are trans. How is he going to replace that type of experience?

Bigotry! What will Trump the king of ignorance do next?

Honest questions:

1. Do you think physical strength is the most important quality for noncombative soldiers to perform their designated jobs effectively (IT, for example)? Do you think trans people born male are incapable of being as strong as straight males?

2. Do you think women have no place in the military in any capacity and are unfit for service even in the noncombative roles that make up the majority of the military? If they do have a place, why don't trans people?

3. Would hormones for those who want/need them be any significant burden on military healthcare compared to everything else the military already covers for its service men and women? If reassignment surgeries were not covered by military benefits and trans people used the same facilities as everyone else, what special needs would they have that the military is not already equipped to deal with?

4. If you met or exceeded all the same aptitude requirements as any other soldier, would being denied the ability to serve based on your sexual orientation be a violation of your civil rights?

I'll ask you the same question I just added above: If you met or exceeded all the same aptitude requirements as any other soldier, would being denied the ability to serve based on your sexual orientation be a violation of your civil rights? I'm not saying that every person is entitled to a military position regardless of qualifications, I'm saying that they should be just as valid as anyone else if they meet the same performance standards. To not even give them a chance to qualify and automatically deny an entire class of people based on their orientation is persecution.

I'm not your typical Trump hater. I've always felt that while he has his faults, the media has blown much of his words, actions, and policies way out of proportion in the name of sensationalism and because he works against their interests, and the masses eat it up. In fact I actually felt neutral, or even supported a few aspects of his; like his anti-politically correct nature, his being a political outsider, and opposition to free trade - but I condemn this action.

Quite a slap in the face to those who want to serve their own country. I cannot support this in any way, despite Trump's bs excuse of "additional medical costs" or whatever. So only trans people require significant additional medical costs? I don't buy it. Being barred from anything based on gender is a violation of human rights. Sure there's the debate of whether trans really exists as a biologically separate "gender" but that's a debate for another time. The fact is still that this is a blanketing form of discrimination of an entire group of people.

Well perhaps I'm speaking too broadly here.. I mean if we're talking in those terms you've outlined I don't really consider that true discrimination, at least not in any significant context.. It's for the sake of art/entertainment for one thing. Secondly, it's simply bringing on specific types to fullfill a role based on who fits the description to best fill it.. Men will typically be inherently be better/more appropriate for certain roles and women will typically be inherently better/more appropriate for certain roles. Obviously I don't think it would be a good idea if a 30 year old hairy dude was cast to play the role of Annie, or if a tiny 20 year old girl was hired on as the quarterback of the Chicago Bears lol. 

But yes as a general rule, being libertarian in nature - I feel strongly that people should be granted positions/roles and be treated/judged 100% based on character and actions, not features they are born with and cannot control like gender or race. 

I'm speaking more in terms of human rights people having equal access to everything.

Oh absolutely - and this is where I differ from the left despite having many liberal views. This constant push to try and get more women into STEM for instance, as they are highly underepresented there, to me is foolish and short-sighted, since it doesn't take into account that most women seem to PREFER other fields than STEM. Same reason you won't find many male nurses. This is still a form of discrimination, just flipped around. Leftists will try and make excuses like "well these women are raised and TRAINED to think this way by teh patriarchy!!1" The irony is they don't see how condescending that is to these women as it's a subtle way of telling them "you are too weak/simple minded to think for yourselves so we must think for you or save you!"

So while I'm against gender discrimination, I'm also against an artificial push to make every area "equal" in terms of male/female. In essence - their shouldn't be FORCED equality, though there also shouldn't be forced inequality. These things should play out naturally.

Trump. The comedic joke that keeps on giving.

What someone does/does not have dangling between their legs is ultimately none of our business or concern.

Remember, Transgender people are people, so treat them with the utmost respect like any other human being. - If you are unable to do that, then you bloody well weren't raised right.

This is starting to set a dangerous precedent.

Just when I thought we were past the civil rights travesties. This shit is going to start gaining momentum. All the more dangerous when he gets backed into a corner on his legal issues. I can see him throwing more radical right tantrums to energize his voter base.