Transgender In The Military

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.

Individuals have identified as being transgendered for centuries, however, it has not always been as socially acceptable in the past has it is to date. In the recent years, more and more transgendered individuals have come out of the closet, and by doing so the transgendered community is slowly changing the perception that society has had towards them in the past. The United states Military recognized this in the recent year. June of 2016 the highly controversial decision was made to lift the ban on transgendered individuals serving in the military, allowing them to serve openly in the armed forces.

First, Transgender military troops should serve in the military, because any American who meets current medical and readiness standards should have the right to serve in the military. They got rid of Transgenders in the military, because they don’t want to pay for medical bills when a lot of the Transgenders that serve in the military have already had their surgeries done. For example, There is no reason to force service members who can fight, train, and deploy to leave the military — regardless of their gender identity. If they can do exactly what everyone else can do, they don’t have the right to ban them from serving our country, despise their gender. According to Ada Edelman, “No American, no matter their sexual orientation or gender identity, should be prohibited from honor + privilege of serving our nation #LGBT,’ tweeted Rep.” In addition, The Department of Defense found that health care funds will remain broadly unaffected by allowing Transgender people to serve while health care cost raise will likely be no more than one-tenth of 1 percent. The financial cost of health care for Transgender individuals should not be used as an excuse to deny patriotic Americans an opportunity to serve their country. Overall, Transgender troops should serve in the military if they are capable and are medically stable to.

I believe that transgender athletes pose major issues regarding keeping sports accomplishments untainted.  For example a world class male sprinter would destroy the female records, but he'd be considered an average male sprinter. The same holds true for the military based on the fitness requirement for females.  The only people that are going to be pushed beyond their physical limitations are the females transitioning to

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.

Transgendered persons can potentially lose their position in the military. Although other political leaders disagree with president’s trumps proposal. I disagree with the proposed actions that transgenders should be banned from the military, based on material and nonmaterial components. The terms Heterosexism, cultural relativism, feminist and standpoint theory will be used to support my decision.

According to the opposing group, the presence of LGBT people in the military undermines the trust among soldiers and can reduce the overall effectiveness of the military. While they think all who want to serve the military should, they also think not all of them are able to. One says there are certain qualifications and expectations in the military and if you are transitioning or

How the Military is classifying Transgender and the process to undergo for a Transgender to change the service member’s gender.

Not surprisingly, there are no enumerated protections for LGBT people within the Constitution, and instead, there is a clause that specifically states that Congress may organize the military as they see fit - everything is to their discretion, according to Article 1, section 8, clause 16 of the US constitution:

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 military excludes Transgender individuals from serving because, according to Kayla Quam, “In order to join the military, individuals need to meet the physical and psychological standards listed in the Department of Defense’s Medical Standard for Appointment, Enlistment, or Introduction in the Military Services (‘DoDI 613.03’)” (721). Because of physical and mental exams many transgender individuals choose to keep their abnormalities a secret, forcing them to live a double life. Many are disqualified because of mental and false health issues. For example, “Transgender [people] who have undergone sex-reassignment surgery are disqualified under a medical regulation during the physical exam,” and Transgender individuals who have not undergone “sex-reassignment surgery but identify as transgender are disqualified under the psychological examination” (Ross 190). The military deems Transgender individuals as unfit to serve, but approximately 15,500 transgender individuals are serving in the military and there are 134,200 transgender veterans (Gate and Herman 1). Proving that transgender individuals have served in the military successfully, playing against all odds the military is in fact wrong to classify transgender individuals as unfit to serve.

Scenario: You have signed up for the United States Marine Corps. You are an able bodied young individual, you have the qualities that are expected of a service member, and you are willing to be a part of one of the World’s greatest Military outfits. But, you are an 18-year-old homosexual individual. Where do you fit in compared to the others signing up for service? What are your rights? How far are you willing to go to become a member of the U.S. Marine Corps?

One of the most divisive civil rights issues of recent memory revolves around the question of whether gay Americans can serve in the military and be open about their sexual orientation. Until the Clinton Administrations' 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' (DADT) policy, evidence of homosexuality could get a soldier discharged. In fact, there were many jokes during the draft era, particularly during the Vietnam War, of unwilling straight recruits pretending to be gay as a way of avoiding the service. DADT remained controversial, however, and recently the law was ended "After 18 years on the books, 'don't ask, don't tell' is done. The policy banning gays and lesbians from serving openly in the U.S. military was officially repealed" in 2011 (Martin 2011).

Thinking it would help to overcome his desire to become a woman, Dwayne Villanueva joined the U.S. Army at 17. Even while serving in what he described as a hyper masculine environment, those feelings did not go away. Dwayne, who identifies as a woman, has since legally changed her name to Laila (Tilghman). Laila is just of one of the estimated 15,000 transgender individuals currently serving in our Armed Forces whose life will be impacted when U.S. Defense Department (DoD) policy changes go into effect which will lift the ban allowing transgender individuals to serve openly in the Armed Forces. As exciting as this news comes for transgender individuals, there still exists opposition to this policy change. I believe opposition to the policy

Throughout centuries of generations, there have been many changes that have influenced sexual tolerance. Sexual tolerance is defined as “the acceptance of multiple sexual orientations and lifestyles, generally accompanied by the appropriate legal and civil rights” (Urban Dictionary, 2009). Though there have been improvements in tolerance, there are still many different views on the recent policies, laws or social trends occurring towards sexual and gender orientation. Every aspect of society, from the Department of Defense to local school departments, are beginning to adapt to this growth in gender identity and orientation. An article published by the New York Times (Rosenberg, 2016) addresses an uprising policy on the acceptance of