President Donald Trump announced on Twitter that transgender troops will no longer be allowed to serve in the military.

People on both sides of the political aisle and LGBTQ rights activists denounced the decision but others including a local Congressman came out in support of it.

President Donald Trump announced on Twitter a ban on individuals who are transgender in the military mentioning tremendous medical costs and disruption.

TJ Williams-Hauger, a religious activist who grew up in Youngstown, is disgusted by the news. 

"I think it's just a smoke screen to distract all of us from all of the real issues," he said. He noted the Russia investigation and the lack of progress on health care reform.

President Trump's decision on transgender members of the military is a rollback of a policy by the Obama administration last year.

Williams-Hauger worked with that administration on global LGBT equality. He lives in Chicago now with his husband.

"I think it perpetuates a kind of abuse toward the LGBT community that is harmful to the spirits and to the bodies of our trans brothers and sisters," he explained.

There has been criticism on both sides of the political aisle but others, including Congressman Bill Johnson who is an Air Force veteran, believe the President made the right call.

He said in a statement "No one has a right to serve in the American armed forces. We routinely turn away people who are too short, too tall, too heavy or too fragile to withstand the demands of military work. We also turn away applicants who have a wide variety of mental and emotional challenges."  

He added that "Being a member of the United States military, the most elite fighting force the world has ever known, demands that a person comes to the team with their personal issues resolved because the performance of a war-fighting unit operating under extremely difficult circumstances demands it - it's a matter of life and death."