Transgender men and women have always served in the US military. They have chosen to give up their personal liberty for a while so we can enjoy ours forever!
Our military is no place for discrimination.
The bitter irony of Trumps Trans Ban tweet was not lost on me.
Nearly 70 years to the day on July 26, 1948 that President Truman signed an order abolishing racial discrimination in US Armed Forces which eventually led to the end of segregation in the armed services, President Donald Trump announced in a series of tweets that transgender people would be banned from serving in our military.
Another step backward in his quest to Make America Great Again?
A patriot willing to sacrifice their liberty so we can have ours is a hero. Whatever their race, gender or religion.
It’s common defense sense that the only qualities that matter in the military are skills, determination and character.
Freedom For All
Vintage ad John Hancock Insurance 1955
Seven years after Truman issued his executive order 9981 forever banning racial discrimination our military, this 1955 ad from John Hancock insurance featuring inductees proudly taking their oath into the military declared:
“Freedom is the most precious of our possessions.
But we do not all share its cost equally. The heaviest tax it imposes is the obligation to bear arms in times of danger. There are hundreds of thousands who have paid this cost with their lives. There are millions of others who pay it in precious years…men who give up their personal liberty for a while so we can enjoy ours forever.”
Transgender men and women have always served in the US military. The are our veterans and our heroes. They have chosen to give up their personal liberty for a while so we can enjoy ours forever!
Allow them the privilege to serve.
© Sally Edelstein and Envisioning The American Dream, 2017. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Sally Edelstein and Envisioning The American Dream with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Envisioning The American Dream 
Trump gets more disgusting by the minute. Whatever happened to his campaign promises to back up the LGBTQ community?
Know that your neighbours in Canada are with you – our military tweeted back that they welcome all Canadians. Hopefully Trump will be impeached soon and this sickening new ban will be lifted.
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Thank you Canada! We know and appreciate that the rest of the world is as horrified as we are by the daily despicable behavior of Donald Trump
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Just another distraction to feed the media… That’s how they have been working. Putting something to distract people from what is really going on.
Sad… Very sad, very, very, sad.
Also it’s great stuff to feed the base.
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You are absolutely right. There was an interesting article in The New Yorker making that very same point http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-cruelty-and-cynicism-of-trumps-transgender-military-ban
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I will read it. There was something else I read about this ploy to distract people.
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A colleague of mine remarked today that this is probably a ploy to distract people from the healthcare issue. That makes sense.
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Sick ploy indeed.
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The Donald excels at distraction and and along with Healthcare he wants to divert attention away from the Russian probe. On a positive note, Pentagon officials have said that transgender service members can stay in the military for now, and there is no modification to the transgender policy. “In the meantime we will continue to treat all our personnel with respect…”
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It is ironic that the military is oftentimes the most progressive place in our society when it comes to recognition of minorities and those of non-heterosexual orientation. It also tends to be the most conservative politically.
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A very good point
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Please, allow one to speak from the perspective of a currently serving veteran. I support the ban, and here is why.
First, the military is NOT a social experiment. Say what you will about us, but our job is very, very simple: make the other guy and all his friends die for their cause, while doing our best to ensure that our people don’t do the same. That’s it, nothing more. I can’t begin to express how much I detest the idea of me and mine being used as a social experiment. Yet, that’s exactly what has happened here, and I’m begging y’all to just stop.
Second, the APA defines Gender Dysphoria as a delusional state, in which someone believes they are something they never will be. Typically speaking, the military’s stance has been to deny service to ANYONE who is delusional. They tend to get people unnecessarily killed. I refer you back to my first point.
We deny enlistment to asthmatics, people with certain mental illnesses, people in wheel chairs, the blind and deaf. Are these discriminatory policies? No, they are practical policies which ensure that people who would NOT survive in a high op-tempo combat environment get to stay out of said environments. Banning trans people has the same net effect, it keeps people who don’t belong in a war zone out. Is it fair? No, but neither is life. We, as adults, should know this intimately.
Third, take into account the hoops a trans person’s commander must jump through, just to get them into a theater of war. They need a steady supply of hormones for their treatments, and will need frequent physical and psychological monitoring because trans people tend to have a very high rate of depression and suicide. This is both time consuming and expensive, especially given that they require specialized care.
Fourth, on the depression and suicide, there is no change in the suicide rate between trans people pre-op and post-op. This means that the social aspects of treatment are ineffective. What do we do with ineffective treatments? We discontinue them, and find something that does work. Unless they’re trans, then we blame everyone else? Really?
Fifth, sexual harassment and assault are already a MAJOR problem in the military. This is one of the more shameful aspects of military life, that there are people in our uniform who are just that evil. Personally, I’d be more than happy to help root them out and execute them all, but that isn’t going to happen.
Imagine the chaos that would result from forcing us to shower COMMUNALLY with trans people. That’s right, we shower communally, and this is where it becomes deeply personal for me, my brother and his wife.
Sixth, I’m an evangelical Christian (amazing that I have made this argument without Scripture, huh?), my brother and his wife are both Messianic Jews. All three of us have religious convictions which don’t allow us to spend any time in the presence of nude members of the opposite sex, barring medical necessity. (All three of us are Medics)
Do you mean to tell me that someone’s delusion is more important than our Biblically commanded modesty? Because a man wants to be declared a woman, my sister-in-law must be forced to share a shower room with him? Am I understanding this correctly? If I am, this is a clear violation of our rights based upon our religious beliefs. Ironic, isn’t it, that we’re willing to fight and die for the freedoms that are needlessly being stripped away from us.
Not only do I have a problem with this, but so does my wife. Out of respect for her and our marriage, I go out of my way to avoid any situations that would create even the impression of impropriety. Being forced into the situation of sharing a shower room with a female-to-male trans person would make that even more difficult than it already is.
Imagine how difficult it is for women to be forced to shower with someone who is biologically male, but who cares about them, right? As long as we pander to delusion?
No, this ban was the right choice. I know for a fact that I can’t entrust my life in a firefight to anyone who is delusional. Period.
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Does this even hold water? Laws and regulation are not enacted over 140 characters on twitter. These valiant heroes have defended freedom for decades (no body complained then) for all and now one low intellectual being wants to tweet everyone into the Dark Ages.
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I am so with you! Trump’s ban makes no sense because it has no grounds or foundation that credibly backs up his decision. He is clearly discriminating with no justification. Race, gender, or religion indeed does not decipher one not being able to serve in the military adequately. If anything, we should be so grateful for these trans individuals for wanting to serve and fight for us. I too hope that this ban will be reversed and am pushing for this ban to banned! Trans individuals have already been serving in the military and there is no reason why this should be changed today. Feel free to have a read of my thoughts, would love your insights on the matter! https://banthetransban.wordpress.com/
– C.N
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