No Room Still for Transgender Americans in the Military
A recent article from the Washington Metroweekly (link below) outlines some of the uphill battles still to be wagered to allow for Transgender individuals to be able to serve our country. Of course it's not what you can do for your country, but what your country will ask you to hide to do it. Sure, the naysayers would suggest a whole series of problems and issues associated with accommodating the few who do truly identify as transgender and pass them over for other candidates..... but where is the respect deserved by each of us as human beings and citizens of this country who wish to serve?
In reality, the fears many hold of transgender individuals serving in the military are founded on unseen and unproven grounds. The perceived issues just have not happened. How do I know this to be true? To start with, I've personally known several individuals who have transitioned while still in the armed forces and have found that their superiors as well as their fellow soldiers and compatriots have handled the change with positivity and with good outcome. The individuals in question were thrilled to be accepted for who they are and gave, as a result, 150% of their efforts back to their unit in appreciation in return.
African Americans were given equal opportunity
Women found a place right beside everyone else
Those who are gay, lesbian or bisexual have as well.
The world has not imploded as a result....
The needs of everyone can been met without compromising the needs and excluding others in the process
If there is moral or religious issue standing to exclude a citizen of this country from serving in the military because of race, creed, sex, gender identity or sexual identity, then leave those qualms for whatever deity you believe in to judge them in whatever afterlife you believe there may be. On this Earth, our military has secular needs to fulfill to ensure our citizen's safety, our freedom preserved and our shores protected from those who would do us physical and economic harm. Let us allow everyone who volunteers to do this for our country and our citizens who take on this noble challenge receive our blessing and be given the honor deserved. Their actions allow us as citizens of this country to rest at night knowing that there are men and women who are doing this job for us all. Now THAT is what I would call a worthwhile, meaningful and noble sacrifice...... and the only sacrifice which bears testament to how a man or a woman should be judged....
http://www.metroweekly.com/feature/?ak=7758
"No man having a natural right to be the judge between himself and another, it is his natural duty to submit to the umpirage of an impartial third." --Thomas Jefferson to Francis Gilmer
In reality, the fears many hold of transgender individuals serving in the military are founded on unseen and unproven grounds. The perceived issues just have not happened. How do I know this to be true? To start with, I've personally known several individuals who have transitioned while still in the armed forces and have found that their superiors as well as their fellow soldiers and compatriots have handled the change with positivity and with good outcome. The individuals in question were thrilled to be accepted for who they are and gave, as a result, 150% of their efforts back to their unit in appreciation in return.
African Americans were given equal opportunity
Women found a place right beside everyone else
Those who are gay, lesbian or bisexual have as well.
The world has not imploded as a result....
The needs of everyone can been met without compromising the needs and excluding others in the process
If there is moral or religious issue standing to exclude a citizen of this country from serving in the military because of race, creed, sex, gender identity or sexual identity, then leave those qualms for whatever deity you believe in to judge them in whatever afterlife you believe there may be. On this Earth, our military has secular needs to fulfill to ensure our citizen's safety, our freedom preserved and our shores protected from those who would do us physical and economic harm. Let us allow everyone who volunteers to do this for our country and our citizens who take on this noble challenge receive our blessing and be given the honor deserved. Their actions allow us as citizens of this country to rest at night knowing that there are men and women who are doing this job for us all. Now THAT is what I would call a worthwhile, meaningful and noble sacrifice...... and the only sacrifice which bears testament to how a man or a woman should be judged....
http://www.metroweekly.com/feature/?ak=7758
"No man having a natural right to be the judge between himself and another, it is his natural duty to submit to the umpirage of an impartial third." --Thomas Jefferson to Francis Gilmer
A diverse military force is a stronger and more capable one! Anybody who can do their job, follow orders, and embrace teamwork should be given the chance to serve their country!
ReplyDeleteA dozen countries allow transsexual people to serve; once again the USA is waaaayyy behind the curve. Once upon a time, many years ago, before my transition, I served this country.
ReplyDelete“If men could see us as we really are, they would be a little amazed; but the cleverest, the acutest men are often under an illusion about women: they do not read them in a true light: they misapprehend them, both for good and evil: their good woman is a queer thing, half doll, half angel; their bad woman almost always a fiend.”
ReplyDelete― Charlotte Brontë