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Sydney Cushard 2/17/2023 What is Diversity? According to Thompson & Cusseo (2014) article, the "word diversity derives from the Latin root diversus, meaning various. Thus, human diversity refers to the variety of differences that exist among people who comprise humanity" (para. 1). Diversity can be seen in human external features, origins, cultural backgrounds and sexual orientations (Thompson & Cusso, 2014). The United States faces a violent conundrum of national identity that often times seems continues and unsolvable. “Racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia and religious intolerance, functioning at the systemic and individual levels combined with lack of shared understanding from our past, resulting in a natural failure to contend with our complex history. (Cia Verschelden M.S.W 2017). Critics are now describing intersectionality as people were once describing ethnic studies and women’s studies, one where “Identity politics trumps all”. (Hill Collins pg. 44). Since 2011, openly gay, lesbian and bisexual men and women have been allowed to serve in the U.S military. That isn’t a long time. The military has been around for nearly 250 years. Being part of the LBGTQ+ community in the military is still tough. They fear backlash to living openly, but by keeping their identity which is a major part of their lives a secret can really effect their mental health. Now let’s dive into some history. You may be wondering why did you choose the history lens over the other lenses? Well, that’s because I feel giving a backstory on the history of the LBGTQ+ community serving in the military is the only way you would understand how hard these individuals had it and why they fought so hard.

In the early 1940’s being gay was classified as having a mental illness, which would then disqualify gays, lesbians and bisexuals from service. It wasn’t until 1982 that the United States military enacted a policy explicitly banning gay men, lesbians and bisexual individuals from their ranks. Before that, same sex relations were criminalized and those troop members had been discharged. In 1993, the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell) Policy went into effect allowing the LBGTQ community to serve as long as no one knew their sexual orientation. In 2011, under the Barak Obama Administration, openly gay individuals were allowed to serve in the military. In 2013, another barrier was lifted when family of same-sex partners in the military were able to get benefits. Under the Donald Trump Administration this was ended. The ban on transgender individual’s was again rescinded in 2021. This allowed anyone who doesn’t identify with their biological gender to serve in the armed forces. Acceptance for LBGTQ+ in the military had expanded with the lifting of the transgender ban in 2021 under the Joe Biden Administration. The lifting of the ban, gave individuals who are serving, family, friends and allies a sense of ease. Still to this day, some service members worry about living openly. They may fear of being harassed, being isolated by other troop members, or being looked over for a promotion, passed up on assignments or an award. This effects the individual’s mental health and sometimes physical health too. The Department Of Defense also known as the D.O.D, is committed to maintaining a strong force that reflects on the LBGTQ community and the nations diversity.

Sometimes the LGBTQ+ community are in situations where they are taken advantage of and talked down to. They are not treated with the same respect as me, who is a 24-year-old white woman. The inequality in this world for those who identify as non-binary and transgender is heartbreaking. I would like to look at this topic through the four lenses to have a more thorough understanding on what can and should be done to improve things. If I were to write about gender inequality from a history perspective, I think it would be important to discuss things such as pay gap, women’s bodily autonomy and a woman’s right to vote. I also think it’s important to look at a black woman’s inequality and black transgender inequality. When applying the humanities lens, I think I’d like to write about how gender is perceived in different cultures and to discuss its inequality. I’d also like to see human rights in other countries. When looking at the social science lens for the gender topic, I think it would be Interesting to look at the different experiences transgender men and women have. The natural science lens and applied science lens would be feminist science, which is the history of women in science. I’d personally would like to dive deeper in that as well. For transgender individuals, they identify as a gender other than their biological sex. For some of these individuals, the difference between their biological sex and their gender identity can manifest itself into a condition called gender dysphoria. Gender dysphoria is a marked incongruence between one’s self-identified gender and their biological sex. That incongruence has to be so great that it ends up causing distress and impairment in occupational, social and important areas of functioning. This is recognized as a medical condition. When a patient goes to the Dr. and describes these symptoms, they resort to gender dysphoria.

For some of these individual’s, talk therapy helps. For others the treatment for gender dysphoria may include gender transition. This may mean they may need to live socially as the opposite gender and without receiving hormone treatment. These individuals get a lot of accommodations in the military. These individuals may leave the military with their own choosing, if they don’t feel comfortable being there and it’s effecting their mental health. “Any service member not meeting retention standards in accordance with DODI 1332.4, retention determinations for non-deployable service members for any reason may be subject to separation”. (Department of Defense Handbook,2020). This policy became in effect in 2018. It allows these individuals who don’t have a history of cross hormone therapy to serve once they demonstrate a 36-month period of stability in their biological sex. They must be able to adhere the standards associated with their biological sex. Besides gender dysphoria, there are hundreds of medical conditions that disqualify applicants from service. These medical conditions include, asthma, plantar warts and history of anxiety and depression. The military is very bias when it comes to allowing the individuals diagnosed with gender dysphoria into the military because they know these individuals are already prone to have anxiety and if they enter this stressful profession, such as the military, it would be immoral. There is also additional cost and time lost by service members needing treatment for gender dysphoria. The U.S armed forces exist to defend the nation’s interest. “Actions such as modifying military entrance criteria to admit individuals with preexisting medical conditions, create layers of risks that are shown by our great service members not those comfortably ensconced in Washington D.C”. (Department of Defense Handbook 2020). According to the veteran Leana Ireland from Harvard Institute of Politics, who identifies as Transgender, had stated that as an insider perspective, she dealt with “service commanders not

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