Secretary Of Defense Ashton Carter

June 30th 2016, Rizzo & Cohen, (2016) with CNN wrote a piece on Defense Secertary Ash Carters’ decision to allow transgender individual to enlist, commission, and sereve openly in the U.S. Military. This order also allows hormone therapy and gender reassignment surgery if medically reccomended. It is estimated that there are 15,000 transgender individuals currently serving in the U.S. military, according to a recent study by the Williams Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles Law School. The policy also states that any transgender joining the forces must have 18 months of stability in their new gender.

Every day, there are American citizens who risk their lives for the sake of their country's safety. Men and women who believe that justice, peace, and equality should be served. However, within their beliefs, some choose to exclude transgender individuals who have the same rights and freedoms. The American society considers the world to be progressively changing and growing, however, seem to forget that in order for the military to survive the 21st century, diversity is crucial. Although the medical costs may raise the overall healthcare median per year, transgender individuals should have the right to serve in the U.S. armed forces because any human being who meets the physical qualifications and has a willing attitude should have the right to serve.

It was in December 1993 that Clinton issued a defense directive that military candidates should not be asked about their sexual orientation (Washington Post). This allowed gays who were not openly gay to serve in the military, however it still prohibited openly gay people to serve in the military. Over the years, the law has faced its share of challenges, many which ended up in a court room. In 2006, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and the law was also upheld five times in federal courts (Washington Post). These doings have ultimately led up to the most recent actions involving the law. In 2008, President Obama campaigned on the promise that he would fully repeal the law (Washington Post). In 2010, both the Senate and House of Representatives voted to repeal the law, allowing President Obama to sign the repeal. (USNI) This repeal effectively ended a 17 year ban on open gays being able to serve in the United States military.

The United States is not the only ones who use the DADT ban. There are several militaries all over the country that has experienced this ban at one point. For example, they are Australia, Britain; Canada, and Israel just to name a few. They have all changed or lifted their ban without any problems and most often maintained excellent careers and good morale. Belkin, McNichol reports, that “In November 1992, the Australian Defense Forces lifted its ban on open gay and lesbian soldiers. Using all available data from military, academic, non-governmental, and other sources, this report assesses the extent to which the lifting of the gay ban has affected the well-being and performance of the Australian military.” (Belkin, McNichol)

Enacted by President Bill Clinton on July nineteenth, 1993 (Klapper) and placed into effect on October 1st of that year (“Don’t Ask, Don’t…”), it ended the absolute prohibition of homosexuals in the armed forces, and instead required that any gays who were serving would not be allowed to tell anyone of their orientation. Additionally, no service man or woman was allowed to inquire about the orientation of another service member. The DADT Repeal Act was brought before the 111th Congress on June nineteenth of 2009, sponsored by Jason Altmire, the Representative from Pennsylvania’s fourth Congressional district (“H.R. 2965 (111th)”). The DADT Repeal Act then passed the house on July eighth of 2009 (“H.R. 2965 (111th)”). It was slated to be repealed by the Senate and the House of Representatives in December of 2010, and the repeal was signed by President Barack Obama on December 22nd (“Don’t Ask, Don’t...”). Upon its enacting, it effectively ended the restriction on open homosexuals serving in the US

The Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy was a United States Armed Forces policy pertaining to allowing homosexuals to serve in the military. The policy allowed the “closet” homosexuals from serving in the military (Embser-Herbert, 2007). The policy however barred the openly homosexuals members from serving in the military. According to Embser-Herbert (2007), the law was enacted by President Bill Clinton in 1993, before the enactment of the law there had been an outright ban on homosexuals in the military. At the time the law was enacted it was considered a major step in embracing the community into serving in the military. When the law was enacted by President Clinton he drew a lot of support from the gay and lesbian activists but he was at odds with

In December 2010, Barack Obama put an end to the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy with the signing of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010. His speech, given prior to his signature, recognized the past and present homosexual members of the United States Military, and the sacrifices they have made in order to serve. As a result of this Repeal Act, the he said that the thousands of males and females in uniform would no longer be asked to live with a lie, or look over their shoulder, in order to protect and serve a nation that they love” (Repeal Act, 2010).

In January of 2013, then United States Secretary of Defense (SecDef) Leon Panetta under the auspicious of the President and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, lifted the ban excluding women from combat-related jobs. The policy, part of the Women Armed Services Integration Act of 1948, barred women from combat-related occupations within the U.S. military for more than 60 years. Opinions varied with liberal-minded individuals and feminist praising the administration 's progressivist ideas concerning gender inequalities between men and women; other 's lauded the move as nothing more than a social experiment that could potentially weaken the military 's warfighting capabilities. Two years later, incumbent SecDef Ashton Carter expanded the rule set by

On February 28, 1994 the Clinton administration passed a United states policy called “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” This policy allowed gays to serve in the military. However they were not allowed to be openly gay. This policy was created to make an agreement in between the conservatives and the liberals. Although some people might believe that this policy is a good thing, I believe that it is a bad thing because, it is not effective, it pushes people away from the military, and there will be less sexual harassment.

In 2016, former president, Barack Obama lifted the ban of transgenders being in the military. Now the question comes up, should transgender be allowed in the military? This is a very “touchy” topic as when discussed in verbal debates, situations can become pretty heated. Recently, current president, Donald Trump reversed the decision and put the ban back on as he made the announcement on Twitter saying, the military does not need to be “burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgenders in the military would entail.” (Caceres). Several members of the military have voiced their opinions on why they think transgenders should be allowed in with no problem.

The policy states that no one can ask anyone what their sexuality is, or announce it, which limits them to openly serve. It is unacceptable for homosexuals to show any sign of their sexuality “...telling anyone about their sexual orientation is considered “homosexual conduct” under the policy and is a basis for involuntary discharge.” This is stated in the article by Rod Powers showing that the policy limits homosexuals from expressing their sexual orientation . The policy “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) shows a certain type of discrimination in the military itself upon the sexuality of a person.

Sparking a worldwide controversy, President Donald Trump reinstates the military ban on transgender individuals. On September 20, 2011, President Barack Obama repealed the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. The policy which allowed gay, lesbian, and bisexual

First off, I would like to address the more recent matter of the military ban for transgender individuals. The military can spend around 2.4 million dollars a year, that they take from the taxpayers, on transition surgeries and hormones which is an unnecessary expenditure. I mean, it is ridiculous that these surgeries should be paid for by the government! I don’t go into the military expecting them to pay for my lip injections. These people need to learn to deal with the bodies God gave them that they are apparently “uncomfortable” with. The military should be spending their money on more important medical costs like the 84 million dollars it spends annually on viagra.

Many individuals were highly gracious at this idea, no matter the negativity that surrounds this topic. When referencing to the article by the New York Times on Ashton Carter’s announcement, he states “Americans who want to serve and can meet our standards should be afforded the opportunity to compete to do so. After all, our all-volunteer force is built upon having the most qualified Americans” (Rosenberg, 2016). The article’s point of view perceives an appreciative tone towards the U.S. military members and how much they sacrifice. For their sacrifices, the government is willing to help formulate policies that can open doors to a new tolerance and acceptance towards sexual identity. Through my discovery of this change in policy, I realized how much this will help not only the individuals who are suffering from this condition but it will help the companionship of the military. I struggle with being completely open with my fellow service members because of the tension there was on the topic of sexual identity. After hearing the statements made by both the Secretary of Defense and the Defense Secretary, I felt like I am part of a whole different world now that there is an understanding of the struggles and tolls taken to maintain personal happiness in such a demanding career. Having higher authorities who are able to implement policies amongst the U.S. government who have vital points of views on this controversial

Originally the DADT law was enacted by Clinton as a compromise to let gays and lesbians serve in the military while protecting themselves . No one would ask another person if they were gay or lesbian and if they were, it was expected that they would not answer. However, it wasn 't exactly what the community wanted. Gay veteran JD Smith says, “it wasn’t as easy to hide your personal life in the military.They didn 't to hide who they were and feel closeted. Believe it or not, there are actually many opponents of DADT repeal. They claim that allowing gays and lesbians to be open about their sexual orientation “would somehow harm service members and weaken military readiness and unit cohesion” (Smith). Another concern was that if gays and lesbians openly shared their sexual orientation they would force themselves onto their colleges and their colleges could perhaps react in a negative way. I tried to understand the DADT policy along with Clinton as possibly trying to protect the gay and lesbian service members