Kirkwood Avenue flooded with color, food and music Saturday as people gathered to celebrate Bloomington’s annual Pridefest. This past week, President Donald Trump announced his plans to instate a ban on transgender people in the military. Some visitors, both IU students and Bloomington residents, shared their thoughts on the ban.
“I think the transgender ban is pretty sad because there’s so many trans people who have already been serving since way back. I just think it’s weird. Like, why now? Every time we take a step forward in society, we’re always taking a few steps back.”
-Toni Deckard, freshman
“It doesn’t seem justified that people who are willing to be patriotic and exercise their rights aren’t allowed to do so. It doesn’t make sense to me how these people are willing to sacrifice their lives for us, and Trump is just rejecting their sacrifice.”
-Charles Hart, Bloomington resident
“We’re segregating people, and it’s especially demeaning for those trans people who are already serving our country. They’re trying to take care of us, and we’re not taking care of them. It makes them feel like everyone is against them.”
-Courtney Scheiber, Bloomington resident
“We used to have the 'don’t ask, don’t tell' policy. Fast forward to however many years later, when that ban was repealed, everyone thought that was fair. We were moving forward. But now with the transgender ban, we’re regressing. And people are just skirting around their cultural beliefs by saying that we can’t afford to pay for them. But if you actually look at the health costs, they’re so minuscule.”
-Laura Scheiber, Bloomington resident
“It’s absolutely ridiculous that he thinks it’s his own personal decision. The amount of money Trump spends on vacations is more than we would need to spend to keep them in the military. He’s all about being a true American, but he’s anything but.”
-Emma Smith, freshman
“If someone wants to help our country, I don’t see how what they identify as matters.”
-Angela Andras, freshman
