RGV residents react to Trump's ban on transgender individuals in the military

President Donald Trump on Wednesday morning announced in a series of tweets that the U.S government will no longer accept or allow transgender individuals to serve "in any capacity in the US military."

His tweets spurred reaction from several individuals, one of which was U.S Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen.

"These are American human beings who have been fighting for our freedom," Gonzalez said. "Historically, they have been doing it and up to this day they still serve proudly in our armed forces, and I think today was a step back in history."

The president attributed his decision to the "tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail."

A 2016 Rand study estimated that there are from 1,300-15,000 transgender individuals in the military. Those who opt for gender reassignment surgery or other procedures would only add one tenth of one percent to overall military health care spending, according to the study.

Rio Grande Valley residents had differing opinions on whether transgender individuals should be allowed in the military. JT Troche, a veteran currently transitioning from female to male, sees the president's announcement as a form of bullying.

"He's just trying to take the story away from him--in the Russia investigation and some other things his administration is not doing right," Troche said. "I think it's just shameful that he's targeting us because we are a low minority of people, but we've done the work over the years."

President Trump's announcement via Twitter is still just an announcement. No formal change in policy has been created just yet.