US Civil Rights Commission Tears Into Trump’s Trans Military Ban

After Donald Trump broke protocol and tried to enact a policy change via Twitter that would ban transgender Americans from serving in the military, the LGBTQ community was quick to criticize the string of tweets from every angle. Now the United States Commission on Civil Rights is officially calling out proposed change.

Related | President Trump Bans Transgender People From Serving in Military

"The president's mere announcement of a ban on transgender military service harms all Americans by sending a message that fosters and encourages prejudice," the commission said. "If implemented, the ban would further harm Americans, and weaken our defense, by enshrining unequal treatment of Americans based on rank stereotype."

Of course most of this sounds like common sense, and may have even been said to Trump if he had let anyone at the Pentagon know about his intentions. As it was, top-ranking military officials heard about the ban at the same time as everyone else - when Trump's tweets went live.

Citing "tremendous medical costs and disruption" as his primary reason to implement the ban, Trump was met with resistance from individual service members from Navy SEALs to the admiral of the Coast Guard. In the closing lines of the statement, the US Civil Rights Commission called on the United States to "satisfy the civil rights protections that are the responsibility and obligation of the federal government." Read the full statement, here.