Chelsea Manning, the transgender and former Army intelligence analyst who leaked hundreds of thousands of government documents to Wikileaks in 2010, on Wednesday tweeted that the U.S. military “cries about a few trans people but funds the F-35,” saying it “sounds like cowardice.”
(Twitter)
Manning weighed in on Wednesday after President Donald Trump announced on Twitter that transgender individuals won’t be allowed to serve in the military in any capacity.
There was a Twitter and social media meltdown over Trump’s transgender ban, with politicians, celebrities, public figures and “average” people weighing in about what Trump announced.
“After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military,” Trump said in a series of tweets. “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.”
The decision would reverse a policy initiated during the Obama administration that would allow transgender individuals to openly serve in the U.S. military.
Former Defense Secretary Ash Carter ended the ban last year, but gave a year-long review process to determine how to best allow transgender recruits to join the military.
The day before the deadline, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis announced a six-month extension before transgender individuals could enlist in the armed services, saying that military leaders needed more time to review its impact on “readiness and lethality.”
“Militaries, [especially U.S.], have always been a social experiment just as much as fighting force,” Manning tweeted Wednesday in response to a Twitter user who said “no reason to accept the mentally ill.”
“It’s just how it go so bloated,” Manning added.
(Twitter)
When a Twitter user named “We Are Trump” tweeted that Manning “belongs in prison,” she tweeted back: “So not only do you want to ban trans people, now you want to throw us in prison? Sounds familiar.”
(Twitter)
Manning added that: “Today is further reason we should dismantle the bloated and dangerous military/intel/police state to fund healthcare for all.”
(Twitter)
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