Military Times is reporting that in a poll conducted in December 2016, 57 percent of active-duty military personnel “expressed a negative opinion of the decision to allowing transgender troops to serve openly.”
Furthermore, “more than half of that groups said the policy change had a very negative effect on military morale.”
Around 16 percent thought the transgender change would boost troops’ morale, while 27 percent believed the policy change would have no effect.
The survey was conducted two months after Pentagon officials announced transgender individuals already in the military could serve openly.
Roughly 41 percent thought transgenders serving would hurt the units, and around 12 percent believed allowing transgender individuals to serve openly would be beneficial to readiness.
President Trump recently announced what appears to be a dramatic reversal of the Pentagon’s current transgender policies, citing readiness issues.
“After consultation with my generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military,” Trump wrote in a tweet last week.
The online survey of U.S. service members was conducted between Dec. 16 and 21, 2016, by the Military Times and Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families. The survey received 1,664 responses from active-duty troops.