After President Trump tweeted Wednesday that transgender Americans will not be allowed to serve in the military “in any capacity,” reactions were swift to pour in on social media. Many slammed the move, including Caitlyn Jenner, who shared her thoughts on Twitter.
There are 15,000 patriotic transgender Americans in the US military fighting for all of us. What happened to your promise to fight for them? https://t.co/WzjypVC8Sr
— Caitlyn Jenner (@Caitlyn_Jenner) July 26, 2017
The reality star responded to a tweet Trump had posted in 2016 promising the LGBT community he would fight for them.
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“There are 15,000 patriotic transgender Americans in the US military fighting for all of us,” Jenner wrote. “What happened to your promise to fight for them?”
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Jenner, a Republican, has been a vocal supporter of Trump since his days on the campaign trail. She later released a statement regarding his tweets on her website.
“I believe every American should be outraged by the disrespect shown to those people wearing our country’s uniform,” she wrote. “Furthermore, this half-baked idea puts all of our service members in harm’s way. Does President Trump intend to just pull 15,000 people out of every critical position to which they are currently assigned? That would disrupt core military missions around the world and needlessly endanger our troops.”
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Jenner then shared a series of facts and statistics regarding transgender service in the military, including the fact that, according to Wikipedia, 19 other countries have successfully integrated trans service members.
“Over the past two years I have met the most inspiring trans people, and I can testify to the trans community’s incredible resilience and perseverance in the face of enormous discrimination and hate,” the I Am Cait star continued. “We are strong, we are beautiful, and we will win. The President must ask himself which side of history he will be on — and reverse his position immediately.”
She concluded, “America’s 15,000 trans service members and 134,000 veterans are much braver than you, Mr. Trump; my allegiance is with them and our country, not you.”
Photo Credit: Instagram / @caitlynjenner
