On Oct. 31, 2017, US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly issued a preliminary injunction on President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender soldiers in the military. Which means that they have temporarily blocked the order. This is a good sign going forward, but the fact that we are taking steps back in the fight for transgender and LGBT rights in general is infuriating.

If this ban becomes reactivated thousands of people will lose their jobs. Which means that we would be losing thousands of soldiers. Although, this is unlikely because it was labeled unconstitutional by the district judge, it still could happen.

The Trump Administration says it is because of the amount of money medical costs the military has to spend on medical costs transgender soldiers. The military only spends 0.04-0.13 percent of the military’s health care budget on Transgender soldiers. Even though this will probably not get appealed, this administration has been discriminating against the LGBT community in multiple ways despite Trump stating he is pro-LGBT.

No matter what you believe transgenders are people too. They did not do anything wrong so why should they be punished? They had enough courage to put their life at risk for our country, we should be supporting them not discouraging them.

Change can only happen if we do something about it. We have to protest, write to our local politicians. We can not just sit around and watch while they try to take away our rights.

Actions speak louder than words, so go out and make a difference.