A piece in today's Washington TImes, (Thursday, 29 Sept 2011) addresses an effort to allow TGs to serve in the military.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/sep/28/after-demise...
The reason I ask you not to hold your breath is because even though the LGB little 't' community likes to brag how inclusive they are, there are more than a few of us who can recall how we were treated by the LGB community in the late '80s and early '90s. Even today there are more than a few who are not exactly enamored with TGs. Though today they like to pretend things are otherwise, some stalwarts of the LGB little 't' community have issues us. One only has to go back to the 2007 debate over ENDA to see where exactly we fit into the LGB little 't' community.
http://www.transadvocate.com/enda-and-barney-franks-trans-pe...
Even HRC, the Human Rights Campaign gave its nod of approval to a version of HR 2015 in 2007 that excluded TGs.
Both HRC and Barney have since seen the light, it would seem, and have hired TGs. Frank for his Congressional staff, (an F-M), and HRC (an M-F) as part of its diversity program. Whether this was done out of a heartfelt conviction or to calm the political waters and prove they are not hypocrites is something neither I nor you can ever prove. For those who remember the bad old days, including the 2007 row, I leave it for you to judge.
My point here is that while there may be a lot of talk and some effort made on our behalf, some of the people we would hope would be our strongest allies and advocates are not exactly thrilled to have us on the same bus with them. I for one do not see the military changing its mind any time soon. To use a well worn phrase, at this time I think it is, for them, a bridge too far.
And for those who think I am simply baying at the moon, in 2001 and 2002 I fought to rejoin the ranks in the hope the Army could use me as a staff toady or something useful like that. I did not make this a national issue or try to become a cause celeb. When the Army finally allowed me to press on, I passed my physical 'AS A FEMALE' but was rejected, (ta-da), because I had a condition listed in DSM IV.
So, friends, Romans and countrymen, (and countrywomen), don't hold your breath.
Okay, I'm ready for incoming. Fire at will.
Nancy Cole
www.nancycole.org
New Policy...PDBIUWNRPTC!
Please don't bring it up; we're not really prepared to change!
Expediency seems to be the rule of the day. Considering that the DADT could have been ended under an executive order (too subject to human frailty and whim, however) under the present administration on day one, and considering it was actually instituted under a supposedly sympathetic administration, I believe I won't hold my breath on this.
I do want to thank you and others here who served; many of whom but for the exclusion you mentioned might still be in uniform. Thanks to you, Nancy and the women (and men) here who have been a part of the safety and security for which we so often take for granted.
Dio vi benedica tutti
Con grande amore e di affetto
Andrea Lena
and then you still have to decide what to do. ― C.S. Lewis
Love, Andrea Lena
Actually, no.
DADT could NOT have been ended by executive order, because there was a LAW. An executive order can't go counter to laws.
That said, it doesn't even require an "Executive Order" to allow TS/IS people to serve. All the President would have to do is tell DOD to change the UCMJ and let us serve. No LAW precludes TS/IS service. It's just the "rules" that have been set up to govern the military.
Anne
You're absolutely correct, Annette...but consider this entry...
Executive orders have the full force of law, since issuances are typically made in pursuance of certain Acts of Congress, some of which specifically delegate to the President some degree of discretionary power (delegated legislation), or are believed to take authority from a power granted directly to the Executive by the Constitution. However, these perceived justifications cited by Presidents when authoring Executive Orders have come under criticism for exceeding Executive authority; at various times throughout U.S. history, challenges to the legal validity or justification for an order have resulted in legal proceedings.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_order
What I seem to recall, especially in light of the above reference, is that many administrations have perhaps overstepped their authority, but not all of the orders so issued have been opposed in court. No one would have expected the Bush administration to oppose the statute, and it wouldn't have been helpful to either President Clinton nor President Obama to appeal to a moderate constituency to strongly oppose the law as well, as far as I can see. Either way, as they say, the wheels of progress grind exceedingly slow.
The only military personnel I've ever had the privilege of knowing personally are my own brothers, both of whom would likely would be wary of the validity of transsexuality/transgenderism, much less the self-same people serving in the military. (Sigh) One mind and heart at a time, I suppose.
Dio vi benedica tutti
Con grande amore e di affetto
Andrea Lena
and then you still have to decide what to do. ― C.S. Lewis
Love, Andrea Lena
President
President Clinton has said that, at the time, he THOUGHT DADT was a valid compromise - by allowing LGB Americans to "serve" as long as they didn't say anything. At the time, he could have issued an Executive Order that allowed them to serve, but he went with the Legal compromise (*sighs*)...
Had President Obama attempted to overturn DADT with an executive order, you can be assured it would have been IMMEDIATELY challenged in court... And, since the law was clear, the Executive Order would have been resended.
Quite a number of our allies allow trans (pre and post op) to serve openly in their armed services, including: UK, Canada and Australia - to name but a few.
*sighs*
Anne
You're right!
and my sighs are right there with yours! (unless you're exasperated with me?) It's too bad that it's taken so long. Thanks, Annette! P.S. Can't wait for the next Road to Myself!
Dio vi benedica tutti
Con grande amore e di affetto
Andrea Lena
and then you still have to decide what to do. ― C.S. Lewis
Love, Andrea Lena
And, to make matters worse...
To make matters worse, the military has been known to "recall to active duty" post op TS people... IN their current gender DESPITE regulations to the contrary - because they have critical skills/knowledge.
You were excluded because someone COULD exclude you. Bigotry - alive and well.
Post Op people are excluded from duty as well... Through a reg that would require removal from service anyone who had an amputation, had cancer - and something "removed" etc... The regs are used by people as they see fit. :-(
I agree - TS/IS people OPENLY in the Military (specially post transition) - not likely any time soon, except for isolated cases.
Anne
Incoming? No, I agree with
Incoming? No, I agree with everything you said. It is one of the reasons I will be interested to see if an "exit clause" in the DSM5 will work as many hope. It is hard to take back a diagnosis when it is recorded in so many places, and one reason I am sympathetic to those who want to have any mention of GID and it's successor diagnosis out of the DSM entirely, and not have a mental assessment as a precursor to surgery. The new WPATH SOC may, perhaps, be a start, but probably will not affect the insular micro minds of the Pentagon.
As far as the military goes, I did my time in the '60s, with "mild gynocomastia" and "near micro-penis" (notation in my medical records). Either the intake Doctors didn't have a clue (probable -- the VA Docs aren't much better now and are more often than not downright discriminatory), or had been told to take any warm body for cannon fodder. I dunno which was in effect, but I was never in the category of a "real man" and I had hoped to fail the draft physical. I view those 4+ years being drafted as a waking nightmare, 9 parts tedious stupidity and underlying dread of exposure, and 1 part terror. Among the few good things to come out of that experience was access to the GI Bill education benefit, and the money I saved from my pay as an "officer and gentleman by act of congress" ,(the only way the gentleman part could have happened). Once I was out, and found that my active contractual responsibility to kill people at the direction of some faceless politician, his incompetent staff, and his military toadies was over (due to the number of months in the war zone killing people directly and indirectly), I walked away and don't look back except in my nightmares.
No offense Nancy, but try to rejoin the military?? I laugh hysterically.
Want to be of service to the military? I walk away laughing while trying not to vomit.
Get the military mind to accept women and men of trans history into the military? Well, some people thrive in the disciplined life of the military (and prison) with others doing their thinking for them, and if the trans candidates are masochistic enough to want to put themselves through it, then let them. All should have the right to go to "whatever afterlife might exist, if any" in their own way.
CaroL
CaroL
There are other...
There are other reasons to sign up... ROTC (or NROTC/AFROTC for the other branches) is a valid way to get a big chunk of your education paid for (even if you're trans - as long as THEY don't know it). That was my path into the service. When I was in (the '80s), the GI Bill "wasn't"... So, no benefit after leaving that way, and I've avoided the VA Hospitals so far...
But, if you're brought up in a way where it is considered a 'good thing' to serve your country - and the military is one way, and Uncle Sam pays for your school? Yeah, I can see some of us still going in - hoping to make it long enough to retire (I know some who succeeded through plain cussed stubbornness.)...
As you said, there are some personalities that THRIVE in that kind of environment.. And, some that do not. Whether you are or not - generally doesn't have anything to do with whether you're TS/IS or not (from what I've seen). There were some aspects of military life that I didn't mind... And, some that I had a lot of trouble dealing with.
We're all different.
Anne
The UK position on Transexuals in the military
UK and US military policy often leapfrogs each other. There is now a fully supportive policy for transexuals in the UK armed forces. This covers both recruitment and retention during transition.
If anyone is interested please go to www.gires.org.uk/assets/Consultations/MOD-policy.doc
Persephone
Ugh... who wants to be
Ugh... who wants to be cannon fodder for the plutocracy?
Well whatever, I think mercenary is the better option though... If you want to risk your life in stupid wars, at least you can earn some decent money ^^
Not that I feel the need to "serve" as cannon fodder, or deniable asset.
ENDA/HRC/TG joke
If you have never read Donna Rose's blog where she served as a token TS director and representative of HRC only for the little "t" as you put it to be jettisoned and forcefully thrown under the bus in appeasement to get ENDA passed.
The HRC has no interest in the little "t" whatsoever other than increasing their numbers come vote time.
The Next Big Crusade, but Please, Don't Hold Your Breath
A shame that the military is afraid o the T.G. Community.
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
The comments
on the end of the article were telling - small mindedness and bigotry abounds.
I'm not sure who in their right mind would want to serve in the military anyway. Most TG people who do do so to either prove their masculinity by doing something hypermasculine or to get themselves killed and so end their problem - either way it's a bad decision.
Angharad
Angharad
The Washington Times...
...is the conservative newspaper in Washington DC, so the comments weren't as surprising/disappointing as I thought when I started reading. (The Times was formed in the 1980s as an alternative to the liberal, well-established Washington Post by the Korean Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon, who saw a niche he could fill even if he was wrong about being the messiah.)
What struck me about the article was that the writer seemed to have no idea that everything after the first paragraph or so was a non-sequitur, discussing gays in the military, when the whole point here was that t-people were being treated differently from gays and lesbians.
Eric
Things to consider
However some of the members of the LGBT community may treat TG people, it's problematical to figure how much progress would TGs have made on their own. The LGB groups are a sizable population, about 10% or more by some estimates. TGs? About 1/30th of that.
This is not meant to excuse the behavior of some LGBs who are only too willing to toss the T* community under the bus. But it would be wise to keep it straight, so to speak, just who the potential allies of the TG cause are. Blacks, Hispanics and women are still struggling for their civil rights and many in those groups are positively inimical to the LGBT cause, too. It's human nature.
It's great to be annoyed about being discriminated against even by others who are victims of discrimination but it isn't wise to overreact and blame all of the LGB communities for the actions of some or the actions of their leadership in some situations. Allies are valuable even when they are less than perfectly reliable.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Yes, Yes, and Thrice Yes
Erin is spot on in all she says. I simply wish the struggle to add the T hadn't taken as long or was as contentious as it was and, in some isolated pockets, still is.
Nancy Cole
An analogy
Erin
I wholeheartedly agree with your analysis. The issue of any allies is that they will always consider their own interests first before seeking to serve yours. It may be a bit cheeky, so please forgive me, but we might consider our LGB allies a bit like the French :)
Persephone
Very true!
Very true.
One thing - So many people say the "T*" community, as if there were one... There's actually quite a number from what I've seen... With some overlap. There are separatists, there are inclusionists, there are thisists and thatists. The past few months, I've see quite a few TS people working to separate themselves from TG groups that include cross dressers, gender queer, etc.
Anne
T* Community definition
I believe there is a definition of T* Community that is useful and relevant. Here's an attempt to define that:
The T* Community could be defined as those people whose actual or desired gender expression puts them in conflict with societal expectations to the extent that they could share a common interest in or benefit from education and/or legislation promoting tolerance for gender diversity.
Just a first try.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Corporal Punishment
To get the politicians behind this, you just need to spin it the right way. Draft language like "To keep the military strong, we'll finally close up a well-documented loophole where personnel could be excused from service through behavior inconsistent with their respective biological genders." Call it the Klinger Act.
LOL!!! Love it. Are you
LOL!!! Love it. Are you sure you don't have a career in politics writing laws and speeches?
CaroL
CaroL
Stealth Sailor
I never let DADT be a problem, gays have been in the military, received medals of honor, died protecting our contitution. However; Lenny Bruce was kicked out of the Military for wearing a Waves Uniform while onboard a ship.
For some reason the military mind cannot fathom transgender without the connotations of homosexuality.
I did a 20 year career, just knowing at any time I could be outed. I had an ex out me, but fortunately the command I was at thought she was doing it to be cruel and dismissed her letter as an act of revenge.
I transitioned after my second divorce. Went to an air Base with my legal name change and got my new retired ID card, no questions asked.
I still have to be careful although retired as the military sees a sexual reassignment or a transition from one gender to another as a charge for Article 134, The general Article for what is not covered by all the articles before it.
I cannot be called back to active duty because I am 100 percent disabled according the the VA.
I spent twenty years keeping my real self in stealth, I now don't hide who I am.
If and when the law is passed, there needs to be a monumental party throughout the nation for people finally using their minds like parachutes, they only function when open.
Jill Micayla
Be kinder than necessary,Because everyone you meet
Is fighting some kind of battle.
Jill Micayla
Be kinder than necessary,Because everyone you meet
Is fighting some kind of battle.