DGAmerican Governments America as a country knows that there is strength in numbers which is true in most cases. It is a country that prides itself on the idea that it is a place of freedom and many believe it still holds true to this idea. In most cases that may be the case but the line seems to be drawn on the case of sexuality. The issue I look too, and hope that others outside of the LGBT community, is part of the long battle for the right to be who one wants to be. In July 2017, President Trump had announced over Twitter the administration’s new policy that would ban most transgender people from serving in the military. Not only was this new proposed policy endorsed by President Trump, but it was also released officially by Secretary of Defense James Mattis in 2018 and was passed by the Supreme Court January 2019. The fight for those in the LGBT community has been a long a difficult battle with acceptance of one another under the flag of freedom not being an easy goal to obtain.
This ban however did not start with the Trump Administration. The first ban on transgender military service began on May 17, 1963 with the application of Executive Order 10450 which allowed businesses to terminate employment of those who were or were suspected of being homosexual. This included federal employees as well as military service members. Legal battles were fought against this action but it was ruled by the courts that it was valid while using an Air Force member, Leyland as an example. The person had undergone a gender reassignment surgery and was discharged shortly after. The courts had determined that genital surgery was similar to amputation surgery, which by military standards, effectively makes the individual unable to meet the demands of a soldier. (Witten 2007) It wouldn’t be until the presidency of Barack Obama that the ban would be ended on June 30, 2016 with some officials were mentioning that the ban was expensive as well as un-needed since there was no signs of skill impairment regardless of sexual preference or those who had undergone gender reassignment surgery. This however would as current President Trump would come into office and announce the administration’s new policy on banning those who suffer from gender dysphoria from serving in the United States Military. The LGBT community has battled long and hard to get to where they are today. Support for each other has been the staple of the community so everyone can live their lives happily and free to be who they want to be. With that said, the transgender ban does place a struggle on multiple aspects, not just for the community but for the lives of Americans as well. The ability to serve and fight for one’s country is a great honor to many families who have one of their own serving currently and for those who have had members serve in the past. It is easy to forget that the ban doesn’t hurt just a single group of people. There are those who support the ban regardless because of what they believe is right. It is thought that those who are confused about their own gender, could be a hinderance in the field. While I personally don’t believe such a thing is true, I can see why they would think that a transgender person would not be effective rather than a “normal” person. But that is something that those who support the ban should take a moment to think about. As I stated before, this ban does not affect just transgendered people. It affects Americans who wish to fight to protect their country and stops family legacies from continuing. There are many families who pride themselves on serving their country. Whether it be a father or a mother serving, the family will most likely influence their children or other families to join. To stop someone based on their gender preference would be to stop this chain of events and may discourage more from joining. If anything, one should take the point of view as a commander of an army. An army needs people and it is a good thing if a large number of people are joining. If I, as a commander, were to stop a group of people from joining, it would cause the number of people joining to reduce. A loss is a loss and there is no way to truly compensate for someone being extremely vital to the function of the army regardless of who they are as a person. With the 2020 election in sight, it is important to note that there has not been much word on the ban by the upcoming candidates. As far as it looks, I have not caught wind of any candidate aiming to help get the ban reversed but I believe it is something that may be on their mind. Military service is an important part of American life. It is a choice that any can make and that choice should be protected for everyone.
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LIAmerican Governments In the recent election of 2016, Donald Trump made headlines for his rhetoric in regards to choice of vocabulary and outlandish opinions that not many previous presidential elections have seen in the United States of America. This election had discussed more issues regarding the bathroom bill that discriminated the trans experience due to the personal beliefs of the state and in general, America. Trans rights became a major topic of discussion in America when the North Carolina governor signed a controversial transgender bill that discriminated the trans individuals in choosing bathrooms on the gender- they identified with. This alone demonstrates the direction trans right has become a part of in American politics- especially with the recent supreme court decision on January 22nd, 2019 regarding the trans military ban.
Previously, Barack Obama had repealed a known transgender ban in the military, however, the Trump Administration would be known to reverse that with the supreme court decision with 5 to 4 in counting. On July 2017, Donald Trump took to twitter to take on his own personal opinions regarding trans in the military backed up with a “consultation” with his generals and military experts. In these tweets, Trump discusses the importance of a stable mindset in war and irritates that trans folk’s expenses for medical costs and their transition would be too much and almost burdensome. The Department of Defence discussed the importance of being mentally and physically stable in a high risk setting and deemed that the trans individuals would be unfit in this particular situation. This ban on the trans individuals being able to serve in the military represents a divide in America regarding personal opinions and human rights. It’s been known that since the Obama’s administration's repeal on the transgender military ban- they’ve been able to openly serve publicly in all branches of the United States militar. This is important to note because trans folk have participated actively in combat zones and the government up to this day has had no evidence whatsoever regarding harms or effectiveness trans have had in the military. About 17,000 trans individuals have participated in protecting the nation’s security in active duty and with this ban stops those Americans from their patriotic rights. The LGBTQ community have tooken part of this discussion constantly in military policies- especially when the Clinton Administration instituted a bill on February 28, 1984 known as the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” or DADT. DADT is known as a discriminatory policy of the United States government and military prohibiting open lesbian, gay, and bisexuals from serving in the military. In 2011, the Obama administration had repealed the DADT bill, however, anyone's experiencing “transvestism” or have abnormalities in their gentilitia were medically disqualified. Trans individuals have been a constant forefront in the fight for LGBT rights yet they’re often the last to even be in consideration for those rights. Ash Carter announced on June 30th, 2016 that the silence and secrecy for trans serving in the military have been cut and now they’re allowed to serve openly. Overall, it’s estimated that there are about 134,000 American veterans who identify as trans and about 15,000 active in duty. The numbers of trans in the military is never truly set because it hasn’t only been since recently that trans where allowed to serve openly instead of hiding in secrecy. Although, discrimination is still rampant with trans individuals receiving the same benefits as their cis-gendered (same-sex assigned at birth is their identified gender) counterparts. These benefits include the VA courage of medical needs and procedures such as any forms of body modifications surgeries. History repeats itself from 1993 to 2019 in the LGBT community with the military policies in American government. Secrecy becomes a constant theme in this particular communities’ discussion on serving their country without noting their own personal orientation or gender. The DADT received many backlash for forcing its lesbian, gay, bisexuals and trans to serve in secrecy and silence. The 2020 election leaves room for an impression on a recent supreme court decision on the transgender military ban. Democrats have been known to be the more liberal of the two parties and recently the democratic presidential candidates participated in a forum of LGBT policies. One of the first openly gay politicians to run for president know as Pete Buttigieg mayor of South Bend is expected to participate in this particular forum. In 2017, literally a day after President Trump’s tweet regarding trans military ban, Buttigieg took to his own accord to discuss his opinions on the topic. He spoke highly of anyone being able to serve as long as their able to do the job. He’s expected to be one of the more interesting candidate to partake in LGBT discussions especially previously serving in the military. With a lot of democratic presidential candidates- it is expected that this topic would be a forefront in discussion with the public. |
AuthorUndergraduate student generated content. Blog posting and updating done by Kristina Flores Victor, Assistant Professor of Political Science at CSUS Archives
March 2020
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