As Trump bans trans people from the military, Canada recruits them

When President Donald Trump tweeted this morning that the American military would not allow transgender Americans to serve in the military “in any capacity,” he effectively put the U.S. offside its closest NATO allies.

Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Israel, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, and a slew of other countries all permit trans people to serve openly in their military forces.

Canada was pretty direct about its contrast, with the Armed Forces tweeting out its welcome policy Wednesday afternoon with a link on how to apply.

“Transgender soldiers serve throughout the Army playing their part in the country’s security,” reads a posting on the website for the U.K. army. “There is a formal network that operates in the Army to ensure that transgender soldiers can find advice and support with issues that affect their daily lives.”

In Israel, Shachar Erez has become a high-profile advocate from within the Israeli Defence Forces, as first openly transgender officer. Erez’s military insurance even covered the cost of his transitioning.

The Canadian Armed Forces, meanwhile, doesn’t collect data on the number of transgender servicemembers — “there is no bona fide work-related reason to collect this information,” the forces said in a statement to VICE News — but Canada does operate a full policy on how transgender service members are expected to be welcomed and supported in the military.

Those guidelines, provided to VICE News, instruct the forces fight against discrimination in the ranks, and to accommodate any member of the military seeking to transition while serving — including creating a process to change the person’s name, provide medical support, and require that the “transsexual member will be kitted for, and dressed as, their target gender.”

A spokesperson for the Canadian military stressed that the guidelines are currently undergoing a review to “update terminology” and will be unveiling this fall.

Trump’s announcement comes just weeks after his secretary of defence, General James Mattis, opted to give the military another six months to prepare to allow transgender recruits.

Thousands of transgender Americans already serve in the military, according to a RAND estimate. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders dodged questions at a press briefing on Wednesday when she was asked about how Trump planned to actually enact his new policy.