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Trump’s political decision to ban transgender military members is already backfiring

Reportedly over border wall funding and electoral politics, the move confirms Trump’s stance on the issue — which could cost him.

Rep. Joe Kennedy, D-Mass., center, shakes hands with an 11-year-old transgender girl who goes by the name Blue, whose parent is an airman at Ramstein Air Base, after Blue and her mother Jess Girven, left, attended Kennedy’s event in support of transgender members of the military, Wednesday, July 26, 2017, on Capitol Hill in Washington. CREDIT: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
Rep. Joe Kennedy, D-Mass., center, shakes hands with an 11-year-old transgender girl who goes by the name Blue, whose parent is an airman at Ramstein Air Base, after Blue and her mother Jess Girven, left, attended Kennedy’s event in support of transgender members of the military, Wednesday, July 26, 2017, on Capitol Hill in Washington. CREDIT: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

President Donald Trump’s move to bar transgender military members from serving appears to have been a political decision, part of a larger effort to target Democrats and secure funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. But it could backfire significantly among Americans who aren’t eager to see politicians crack down on transgender people.

Hours after the president tweeted on Wednesday that transgender military members were no longer welcome, an administration official told Axios reporter Jonathan Swan that the move was viewed as politically beneficial.

“This forces Democrats in Rust Belt states like Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin, to take complete ownership of this issue,” the official said. How will the blue collar voters in these states respond when senators up for re-election in 2018 like [Democratic Michigan Senator] Debbie Stabenow are forced to make their opposition to this a key plank of their campaigns?”

Later that day, Politico broke the news that the announcement was due to infighting over funding for Trump’s border wall. With hardliners reportedly insisting on a ban targeting Pentagon-funded gender affirmation surgeries, House GOP members worried they lacked the votes for a spending bill. Upon being consulted, Trump decided to ban transgender service members altogether, declaring on Twitter that the U.S. government would not “accept or allow [t]ransgender individuals to serve in any capacity” in the military.

Sources indicated the president has long planned to roll back policies introduced under former President Barack Obama that expanded military service to transgender individuals and approved military-funded medical treatment. But with the border wall in peril, along with many of his other campaign promises, Trump moved more quickly — using the transgender community as a means to an end.

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Trump’s approach is indicative of a wider anti-LGBTQ sentiment within his administration. Prior to Trump’s Twitter announcement, Vice President Mike Pence had reportedly been working to reverse the Department of Defense’s year-old policy embracing transgender service members. Pence, who has a lengthy history of supporting anti-LGBTQ policies, opposed Obama’s repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and pushed for legislation targeting the queer community while serving as governor of Indiana.

Other members of the administration have also shown an unwillingness to embrace trans-inclusive policies, including White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon. Secretary of Defense James Mattis announced in June that military chiefs would be given another six months to assess the impact transgender recruits would have on the institution before admitting them.

“After consulting with the service chiefs and secretaries, I have determined that it is necessary to defer the start of accessions for six months,” Mattis said at the time. “We will use this additional time to evaluate more carefully the impact of such accessions on readiness and lethality.”

While the president’s announcement on Wednesday wasn’t entirely expected, one administration official told Politico it was “not the worst thing in the world to have this fight.”

Steven McCarty, right, and others, attends an event in support of transgender members of the military, Wednesday, July 26, 2017. CREDIT: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
Steven McCarty, right, and others, attends an event in support of transgender members of the military, Wednesday, July 26, 2017. CREDIT: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

Republicans in multiple states have embraced legislation targeting the transgender community. Perhaps most notoriously, North Carolina and Texas have both seen prominent efforts to restrict transgender residents from using bathrooms correlating to their genders. Texas itself is in the midst of a special session seemingly called by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in order to pass legislation including a “bathroom bill” — one that opponents say is designed to boost Abbott’s popularity with his base.

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Since Trump’s election, a number of Democratic lawmakers have argued the party should focus on economic issues, rather than social concerns — including defending the transgender community from attacks. If Trump succeeds in making this dispute over transgender military recruits campaign fodder, some within the administration hope Democrats in precarious positions will pay the price.

But administration officials hoping for voters in the Rust Belt and other traditionally conservative regions to embrace trans-exclusionary policies may be in for a surprise. Even in Texas, which overwhelmingly leans Republican, 53 percent of voters oppose “bathroom bills” — an indicator that support for anti-trans legislation might not be as popular as some politicians believe. Another telling sign was the defeat of former North Carolina Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, who lost in November in large part because of backlash to his efforts to target the transgender community.

In the Midwest, sentiments are similar — in 2016, Pence’s hometown of Columbus, Indiana unanimously passed LGBTQ protections in response to the then-governor’s apparent efforts to crack down on the community.

“Republicans don’t speak with one voice on this issue,” said Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop at the time. “In a small town, you really do live with the laws that you create. It makes it all a little bit more real that we see some people — we actually know them — who might be affected.”

Trump’s decision on transgender troops seems to be sparking a similar reaction. A number of GOP members, including Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Joni Ernst (R-IA), a former Army Reserve commander, have all criticized the ban.

“You ought to treat everybody fairly and give everybody a chance to serve,” said Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL), a member of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee with considerable power over the Pentagon’s budget.

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Perhaps in an effort to mitigate this type of backlash, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders argued that Trump’s decision on Wednesday was one made without political calculation.

“It’s a military decision,” Sanders told reporters during a briefing following the president’s tweets. “It’s not meant to be anything more than that.”

President Trump himself, however, seems prepared to embrace the culture wars. In a tweet posted three hours following his announcement on transgender military members, the president appeared to pivot further toward religious conservatives.

“IN AMERICA WE DON’T WORSHIP GOVERNMENT,” Trump wrote. “WE WORSHIP GOD.”

Trump’s morning announcement wasn’t the only blow to the LGBTQ community on Wednesday. As if to underscore that the administration’s approach to queer people would be wide-ranging in its scope, the Justice Department also released a brief in the evening arguing against workplace protections for LGBTQ employees.