President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to immediately stop the “transgender madness” and make it “official policy” to recognize only two genders: male and female.
“With my pen on day one, I will stop the trans madness,” President Trump told supporters Sunday at America Fest 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona, according to reports. video Shared by C-Span.
“I'm signing an executive order to end child sexual mutilation and ban transgender people from the military, from elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools,” he said, drawing cheers from the crowd.
“Under the Trump administration, it will be official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female,” he continued, also vowing to “keep men out of women's sports.”
“Doesn't that sound too complicated?”
On Wednesday, days after the Senate greenlit the Pentagon's massive $895 billion annual budget, President Trump slammed transgender rights. The budget includes a provision that would strip transgender medical insurance coverage for children of military personnel.
The Senate passed the 1,800-page National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) by a vote of 85-14, sending it to President Biden's desk.
Each fiscal year, beginning October 1, Congress is tasked with passing the NDAA, which authorizes defense spending and specifies the spending. This year's bill was introduced two months late and increases the amount by about 1% compared to last year's budget.
While the NDAA has historically garnered bipartisan support, Republicans managed to bypass provisions regarding transgender health care, much to the displeasure of Democrats.
Specifically, the NDAA prevents Tricare, the military's medical service, from proposing “gender reassignment” insurance for children of military personnel under the age of 18.
Twenty-one Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), voted against the provision, which Baldwin argued would affect between 6,000 and 7,000 children of military personnel.
The Modern Military Association of America estimates that there are approximately 10,000 transgender youth between the ages of 6 and 22 whose parents are in the military.
