A List of Things That Cost the U.S. a Lot More Than Healthcare for Trans Soldiers
Donald Trump, a man who promised to fight for the LGBTQ community, announced yesterday that the cost of healthcare for trans members of the military was too high, and they would therefore be banned from military service.
As our colleagues over at Jalapnik pointed out, Trump’s justification–that trans soldiers bring with them “tremendous medical costs and disruption”—is ironic given that just this weekend, he celebrated a ship that cost the Pentagon an extra $2.4 billion in unexpected costs, and the health costs for trans military is only estimated to be between $2.4 to $8.4 million.
In fact, there are a great many things American taxpayers are funding that cost more–often way more–than the minimal costs required to provide transition-related healthcare for transgender individuals serving in the military. Here are just some of them.
- Erectile dysfunction medicine for the Department of Defense: $84 million.
- Donald Trump trips to his weekend properties: An estimated $29 million and counting.
- One F-35 fighter jet: at least $94.6 million.
- One M1 tank: at least $16.3 million.
- Uniforms for soldiers in Afghanistan that they couldn’t even use: $28 million.
- Securing Trump Tower for roughly two months: $24 million.
- Protecting Melania and Barron Trump in New York because she refused to move to Washington: at least $18.1 million.
- Paying New York and Palm Beach back for having to do security for Trump: $61 million
- The border wall, if Trump gets his way: $21.6 billion.
It’s almost as though money is not the actual point here.