{"id":33479,"date":"2017-08-10T06:00:43","date_gmt":"2017-08-09T20:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=33479"},"modified":"2017-08-09T17:26:18","modified_gmt":"2017-08-09T07:26:18","slug":"not-tweet-australia-trumps-military-transgender-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/not-tweet-australia-trumps-military-transgender-ban\/","title":{"rendered":"Not a tweet from Australia on Trump\u2019s military transgender ban"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/figure>\n

A fortnight ago, while most Australians were safely tucked into bed, America\u2019s Twitter-happy president took to his favourite platform to tap out another policy announcement. You never know what you\u2019re going to get from @realDonaldTrump<\/a>, and this was no different. Across three tweets he announced that his government:<\/p>\n

will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the US Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Secretary of Defense James Mattis was on vacation at the time, and sources allege that he was appalled<\/a> the president chose to unveil his decision in tweets. The US Defense Department has been waiting for formal direction<\/a> and it\u2019s now been reported<\/a> that President Trump has approved a \u2018guidance policy\u2019 for implementation that will be delivered to Secretary Mattis.<\/p>\n

Arguing that America\u2019s soft power is in decline has become all too easy this year. A soft-power index out of the UK found that America has fallen<\/a> from number one in the world to third this year, largely due to sharp declines in international polling. At home, Lowy Institute polling<\/a> found that 60% of Australians say President Trump causes them to have an unfavourable opinion of the United States. The president\u2019s announcement, and the callous way in which it was delivered, will only further chip away at America\u2019s soft power. Uniquely in the world of international relations, much of this erosion can be tied to the president\u2019s engagement with cyberspace and his abrupt style of digital diplomacy. No other leader has ever tweeted out policy announcements and given us their daily thoughts in real time<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But if you don\u2019t give weight to the concept of soft power, let\u2019s throw dollars into the equation. RAND estimates<\/a> (PDF) that there are between 1,320 and 6,630 transgender personnel in active service and 830 to 4,160 in reserve. Given that they\u2019ll no longer be allowed to serve \u2018in any capacity\u2019, the US military has an expensive recruitment drive in front of it. Earlier this year, the US Army budgeted US$300 million<\/a> to recruit 6,000 additional soldiers.<\/p>\n

The personnel that need to be replaced won\u2019t all be in the army, and nor will they all be full-time. But these figures don\u2019t take into consideration the expense of security clearances, training or replacing senior officers and intelligence specialists. Even applying a conservative lens to the figures, Trump\u2019s ban\u2014if enacted\u2014will cost hundreds of millions of dollars. On the flipside, the financial burden brought on by transgender personnel who request financial support for transition-related medical treatment is estimated at US$2.4\u20138.4 million annually.<\/p>\n

Several governments have come out online to condemn the ban. The Canadian defence force spoke about jobs, while also sending out a message about its commitment to diversity. Within 24 hours, a tweet from Canada\u2019s Armed Forces<\/a> welcoming Canadians of all sexual orientations and gender identities and imploring potential recruits to \u2018Join us!\u2019 went viral, racking up 33,000 re-tweets from around the world.<\/p>\n

Commander of the UK\u2019s Maritime Forces Rear Admiral Alex Burton tweeted<\/a>: \u2018As an @RoyalNavy_LGBT champion and senior warfighter I am so glad we are not going this way.\u2019 Among the many tweets from the UK\u2019s Second Sea Lord and Deputy Chief of Naval Staff, this stood out<\/a>: \u2018So proud of our transgender personnel. They bring #diversity to our @RoyalNavy and I will always support their desire to serve their country.\u2019 Lieutenant General Patrick Sanders added<\/a>, \u2018The British Army is proud to have many transgender soldiers serving their country. Like all soldiers, they are prepared to lay down their lives for their country. We are a stronger and better Army for being inclusive and we benefit from the rich diversity of all represented in the British Army.\u2019<\/p>\n

Australia is one of the world\u2019s 18 countries<\/a> that allow transgender personnel to openly serve in their militaries. The Washington Post<\/em> recently reported<\/a> that an Australian Air Force diversity handbook<\/a> (PDF) on gender transitioning had been labelled the \u2018gold standard\u2019. The government is about to release a foreign affairs white paper that has been repeatedly described as<\/a> \u2018a statement of values\u2019. Last month, the government celebrated its election<\/a> to the UN Human Rights Council, something our foreign minister and her department have been actively lobbying for since 2015<\/a>.<\/p>\n

All of which makes it incredibly surprising that the Australian government has said nothing about the triple-tweet announcement. They would have certainly seen our closest allies taking to their keyboards to condemn the absurd policy, making it clear to their citizens that they won\u2019t be following suit.<\/p>\n

Our political leaders and defence chiefs are long accustomed to an online world. They send out daily tweets, emojis and videos. In fact, the Australian Army has developed a particularly good reputation for its savvy social media use. But not a tweet from Australia. Zip from the dozens of social media accounts administered by Canberra. Nothing witty, nothing kind, nothing strong, nothing factual about Australia\u2019s position on the inclusion of transgender personnel in\u2014to borrow the military\u2019s hashtag\u2014#YourADF<\/a>. So where is our voice? Only days after Trump\u2019s Twitter storm, a diversity recruitment campaign<\/a> was even launched that provided the perfect forum for our defence leaders to take a strong stance.<\/p>\n

Last year Prime Minister Turnbull said that he wouldn\u2019t engage<\/a> in Trump commentary. He, his Cabinet and our defence chiefs shouldn\u2019t be expected to comment on every development or tweet. Their time is incredibly valuable and most days they have bigger fish to fry.<\/p>\n

Equally, however, as we get ready to take our seat on the UN Human Rights Council, how can we shirk important global debates like this? It is vital that our political and defence leaders speak out to publicly and proudly reinforce Australia\u2019s commitment to values in times like this. Because the military\u2019s hashtag is spot-on\u2014it is #OurADF\u2014and there\u2019s nothing but shame in deafening silence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A fortnight ago, while most Australians were safely tucked into bed, America\u2019s Twitter-happy president took to his favourite platform to tap out another policy announcement. You never know what you\u2019re going to get from @realDonaldTrump, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":691,"featured_media":33480,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1428,337,224],"class_list":["post-33479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-donald-trump","tag-military","tag-social-media"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNot a tweet from Australia on Trump\u2019s military transgender ban | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/not-tweet-australia-trumps-military-transgender-ban\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Not a tweet from Australia on Trump\u2019s military transgender ban | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A fortnight ago, while most Australians were safely tucked into bed, America\u2019s Twitter-happy president took to his favourite platform to tap out another policy announcement. 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