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4 • American Military Partner Magazine • November 2017
Trump’s Transgender Ban Touts
a $960 Million Price Tag
By Adam Ferguson
November 2017 • American Military Partner Magazine • 5
 E
xperts at The Palm Center have authored by The Palm Center Director, 12,800 transgender troops currently
concluded in a new report that Aaron Belkin, PhD and his associates, serving in the armed forces. He arrived
the price tag of dismissing was published August 8, 2017 with the at this figure by referencing a report

“THE UNITED STATES

transgender military personnel
pursuant to Donald Trump’s
transgender ban, announced last month via
Twitter, would be more than one hundred
times greater than the medical cost savings
that the administration has used to justify
intent of rebutting Trump’s explanation
regarding the change in policy, and to
illuminate the massive financial burden
of actually implementing the ban. “Good
public policy depends on evidence. Our
effort is always to inform national policy
published in May of 2014 by the Williams
Institute at UCLA that estimated about
15,500 transgender troops serving in
the military. For the sake of accuracy,
Belkin took this figure and adjusted with
respect to the progressive downsizing of

GOVERNMENT
the controversial ban’s necessity.
THE TWEET
On July 26, 2017 Donald Trump Tweeted
“After consultation with my
Generals and military experts,
conversations about evidence, so that
decisions can be based on data rather
than emotion.” Belkin said in a telephone
interview on Friday, August 25, 2017.
the military.
If one were to multiply the estimated
number of troops by the cost of training
at $75k, they would ultimately see
a $960 million price tag
to replace these affected

WILL NOT
please be advised that the soldiers; versus the overall
United States Government “GOOD PUBLIC POLICY $8.4 million annual cost of
will not accept or allow transition related medical
transgender individuals to DEPENDS ON EVIDENCE. care. In essence, Belkin jokes
serve in any capacity in the that Donald Trump, who
U.S. Military. Our military must OUR EFFORT IS ALWAYS regularly boasts his business

ACCEPT OR ALLOW
be focused on decisive and
overwhelming victory and
cannot be burdened with
the tremendous medical
costs and disruption that
transgender in the military
savvy, would be spending a
TO INFORM NATIONAL dollar to buy a dime.
It is also wise to note that
POLICY CONVERSATIONS the report does not take
into consideration legal
ABOUT EVIDENCE, SO or administrative costs

TRANSGENDER
would entail. Thank you.” associated with the ban’s
Trump justified his ban, THAT DECISIONS CAN BE implementation, and so the
by citing increased medical effort to ban transgender
costs associated with BASED ON DATA RATHER service members has
supporting transgender potential to be much costlier.
troops, but has yet to provide THAN EMOTION.”
THE SPECULATION

INDIVIDUALS TO
little, if any information or
documentation to support While the White House has
his claim. While The Palm - DR. AARON BELKIN, PHD recently issued a directive
Center’s report concludes on implementation, it still
that out of a $48.8 billion remains to be seen whether or
health care budget, the cost not the ban extends beyond
THE METHODOLOGY

SERVE IN ANY
to cover medical care for transgender
service members is estimated at only $8.4
million; by stark contrast, the Department
of Defense spends approximately $41.6
million on erectile dysfunction alone.
THE REPORT
The methodology of his report uses a
replacement-cost method which takes
into consideration the cost required to
recruit and train one replacement service
member for each transgender troop
just transgender service members, or also
impacts military civilians and contractors.
“You’re getting into a question about
not just the military of course, but about
federal civilian employees, but also federal
contractors. The President has quite a lot of

CAPACITY IN THE
who is discharged. The cost of training is latitude to undermine protections not just
The report, “Discharging Transgender currently about $75k per troop. for transgender civilians but also lesbians,
Troops Would Cost $960 Million” Belkin then estimates approximately gays, and bisexuals. The administration

AARON BELKIN, PHD

U.S. MILITARY.”
DIRECTOR - THE PALM CENTER
Dr. Aaron Belkin is a scholar and
advocate who, since 1999, has served as
founding director of the Palm Center, which
the Advocate named as one of the most
effective LGBT rights organizations in the
United States.
He designed and implemented much of
which Arianna Huffington praised as a “best
practices guide for civil rights fights.”
Research by Aaron and the Palm Center
has been covered by the New York Times,
Washington Post, Los Angeles Times,
Associated Press and others, as wellas by
television and radio stations across the

- DONALD J. TRUMP the public education campaign responsible

for helping end the military’s “don’t ask,
don’t tell” policy in 2011. Aaron summarized
the keys to successful advocacy in the
book, How We Won: Progressive Lessons
from the Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,”
world.
Aaron has written and edited more
than thirty scholarly articles, chapters and
books, the most recent of which is a study
of military masculinity published by Oxford
University Press.

6 • American Military Partner Magazine • November 2017 November 2017 • American Military Partner Magazine • 7
could shatter a lot of lives.” Belkin said.
Dr. Belkin also speculates that Donald
Trump’s position on the issue and his
intentions may be more sinister than
frugal. “They just love to discriminate
and they love to hurt LGBT people. It
really doesn’t seem to matter to them
whether they waste money, or hurt the
military, or undermine cohesion, or
cause disruptions, or anything like that.”
THE VICTIMS
In a separate but related interview, Ashley
Broadway-Mack, LGBT advocate, military
spouse, and President of AMPA (the
American Military Partner Association)
strongly agreed with Dr. Belkin’s report,
warning that the financial fallout from the
ban has the potential to be much greater
“Not only the fact that the legal fees are
going to be astronomical, that’s going to
cost our country, but also the potential of
losing these troops, and the money that
we’ve invested in them over the years.”
As of 2010, the average cost to train just
one soldier was approximately $72,000.00
(currently $75,000.00, according to Belkin’s
estimate) before they arrive to their first
unit, and doesn’t even consider the cost
of specialized job and future trainings.
With an estimated 12,800 openly serving
transgender troops, even if the money
invested in training may not necessarily be
a future financial loss, it is still most certainly
a loss, not to mention a reckless waste of our
taxpayer dollars.
More importantly, Broadway-Mack
stresses that it’s not only the transgender
troops being victimized. She worries about
the invisible targets, the families of the
affected service members; their spouses
and children who depend on them.
How will these families be affected, not
just financially, but also emotionally, knowing
that the federal government has without
warning, unilaterally chosen to dismiss their
loved one, a patriot who willfully laid their
own life on the line to serve our country?
THE AMERICAN MILITARY PARTNER ASSOCIATION
Connecting, supporting, honoring, and
serving the partners and spouses of America’s
LGBT service members and veterans –
our nation’s modern military families, the
American Military Partner Association is the
nation’s largest resource and support network
for the partners, spouses, families, and allies
of America’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender (LGBT) service members and
veterans.
As a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization
founded by the partners of active duty service
members, AMPA has grown to the strength of
8 • American Military Partner Magazine • November 2017
“You’re dealing with not just a service
member, you’re dealing with a family, with
children, and how negatively impacted they
would be if this ban where to go in place.”
Broadway-Mack also suggests that many
transgender military personnel affected are
ready to mobilize by suing the administration
on the basis of sex discrimination, and likely
have standing to do so pursuant to Title
VII, aka the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Donald
Trump has been in the hotseat with countless
personal lawsuits prior to his presidency,
but does he really expect the taxpayers to
begin shouldering the financial burden of
960
DOLLARS POTENTIALLY SPENT - IN MILLIONS
50
40
30
20
10
0 Transgender Transition
Related Healthcare
over 50,000 members and supporters and is
proud to be leading the nation in education,
advocacy, and support for our modern
military families.
AMPA works to accomplish their mission
by connecting LGBT military families,
supporting them through the challenges
of military service, honoring them for their
commitment to our country, and serving
them by advocating on their behalf.
You can learn more about AMPA, and
their mission by visiting their website:
www.MilitaryPartners.org
his (un)presidential impulsiveness and legal
conflicts, or does he just enjoy reveling in
the political firestorm?
THE PALM CENTER
The Palm Center, based in San Francisco
California, is a non-profit independent
research institute committed to
enhancing the quality of public dialogue
about critical and controversial public
policy issues.
The report in its entirety can be found
on The Palm Center’s website at:
www.palmcenter.org.
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
Protected Under Title VII
ABOUT TITLE VII
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a
federal law that prohibits employers from
Erectile Dysfunction Dismissal of Transgender
discriminating against employees on the
Medication Soldiers
basis of sex, race, color, national origin, and
religion. It generally applies to employers
with 15 or more employees, including
federal, state, and local governments. Title
VII also applies to private and public colleges
and universities, employment agencies, and
labor organizations.
Despite Title VII’s passage half a century
ago, gender and race discrimination in the
workplace is still a serious problem. If you
have questions about discrimination in
the workplace, or if you believe you have
faced unlawful discrimination at work, this
resource will help get you started.
WHAT DOES TITLE VII SAY?
It shall be an unlawful employment
practice for an employer … to discriminate
against any individual with respect to
“YOU’RE DEALING
WITH NOT JUST
A SERVICE
MEMBER, YOU’RE
DEALING WITH
A FAMILY, WITH
CHILDREN, AND
HOW NEGATIVELY
IMPACTED THEY
WOULD BE IF THIS
BAN WERE TO GO
INTO PLACE”
- ASHLEY BROADWAY-MACK
his compensation, terms, conditions, or LIMITATIONS & APPEALS
privileges of employment, because of Unfortunately, courts historically have held
such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or that Title VII does not prohibit employment
national origin.” — Title VII, Civil Rights discrimination or harassment on the basis
Act of 1964 of sexual orientation. However, if you are
a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender
PROTECTIONS (LGBT) employee, you do have some
Title VII forbids discrimination in any aspect limited protection under federal law and,
of employment, including: depending on the state that you live in,
may have broad protections under the laws
• Hiring & Firing of your state, county, or city. Furthermore,
• Compensation, Assignment, or recent developments have led some courts
Classification of Employees and important federal agencies to recognize
• Transfer, Promotion, Layoff, or Recall legal protections for LGBT employees.
• Job Advertisements The question of whether Title VII prohibits
• Recruitment discrimination on the basis of sexual
• Testing orientation is currently before two federal
• Use of Company Facilities appellate courts. Regardless of the outcome
• Training & Apprenticeship Programs of these cases, the issue seems likely to come
• Fringe Benefits before the Supreme Court at some point
• Pay, Retirement Plans, & Disability Leave in the near future. The outcome will have
• Other Terms & Conditions of a major impact on the level of protection
Employment federal law extends to LGBT employees.
November 2017 • American Military Partner Magazine • 9