ARLINGTON, VA - JULY 20: U.S. President Donald Trump (R) speaks to members of the media as Vice President Mike Pence (L) looks on after a meeting at the Pentagon July 20, 2017 in Arlington, Virginia. President Trump participated in a 'Pol-Mil session' and was briefed on national security issues and the fight against ISIS. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Anti-LGBT activists want Trump to ban gay people from the military too.

The President sparked anger yesterday by announcing a ban on transgender people serving in the US military.

In a string of Twitter posts, the President claimed that the military “cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender would entail”.

The comments have caused considerable distress to the thousands of trans people already serving in the US armed forces, while the American Civil Liberties Union has vowed to challenge any enforcement of the policy.

However, anti-LGBT activists are already pushing Trump to go further, by overturning Barack Obama’s 2013 decision to allow gay people to serve openly in the military.

Matt Barber, the editor of right-wing website Barbwire, added: “With male-on-male sexual assaults up 33% in the military since the Obama Administration homosexualized the armed forces, barring men in miniskirts should only be the first step. It’s a no-brainer.

“It protects the privacy rights and safety of all troops. Next step? Prohibit all open sexual deviancy in the ranks of the armed services. The military is no place for extremist San Francisco-style socio-political activism.

“Such social engineering destroys national security, troop morale and unit cohesion. It also violates natural law, settled science, and God’s moral law. President Trump did the right thing today by prohibiting those suffering from the gender dysphoria mental disorder.

“Individuals with other mental disorders and even flat feet cannot serve in the military. It’s a privilege not a right.”

Trump associate Nigel Farage also spoke to an anti-LGBT commentator on his LBC radio show who wants to ban gay people from the military.

The commentator said: “The military is not a place for social experiment or emotional attachment to some issue. It’s a fighting force, there to protect the country, uphold and defend the constitution.

“It’s been my experience that anybody who is gay or women do not belong as frontline troops, they just cannot withstand the rigours of combat. There are some that can, but there are very few ones. It’s a policy that undermines unit cohesion and integrity.”

He added: “From what I’ve experienced, it’s the disruption they create because they cannot control themselves, the majority of them, I would say. They will come onto a man, that interrupts the cohesion and integrity of the unit. Nobody trusts them and nobody likes them.

“Many [in the military] bit their tongue for a long time with all the politically-correct training we had to have, but I would say the vast majority of the military feel the same way I do.”