More from the OpEd ...

... Editor's Note: The Trump administration has moved quickly to ban transgender people from serving in the U.S. military.

The George Washington University's Alexander Downes reviews the justifications the administration has cited -- the cost to unit cohesion, the medical cost to the military, and the dishonorable nature of transgender people in general -- and finds all of them wanting, making a strong case that transgender people should be welcome in the U.S. armed forces.

Daniel Byman ...

More from the OpEd ...

... Trump's order offers three reasons why transgender people should be excluded from military service.

It posits, first, that transgender soldiers undermine unit cohesion, which is argued to be an essential ingredient of military effectiveness; second, that transgender people are incapable of meeting the military's rigorous standards and adversely affect readiness; and third, that transgender soldiers lack the honor and truthfulness needed to serve because they are living a lie.

The problem is that each of these claims is false, as I noted when these issues arose when Trump first came into office.

Transgender troops have served honorably with no adverse effect on cohesion or readiness for years.

The order to remove them from the military is not based on any evidence to the contrary and is thus without foundation.

To be the object of such a sweeping order, one might think that transgender people make up a large proportion of the U.S. military.

That is incorrect. Of the 2 million Americans who serve on active duty or in the National Guard and reserves, an estimated 15,500 -- less than eight-tenths of 1 percent -- are transgender. ...