trans-parenting:
I am furious. And it’s hard to even articulate...
I am furious. And it’s hard to even articulate the full depth of those feelings.
This morning Donald Trump disgraced the thousands of trans soldiers and tens of thousands of veterans who have bravely served this nation with this discriminatory announcement.
Just over a year ago, then Secretary of Defense Ash Carter - after studying the implications for the military - moved to lift the ban on transgender individuals serving openly in the armed forces. The ban around trans folks was separate from “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. The full implementation of the new and more inclusive policy was to take place this year. Clearly we are on a very different path today.
Trans folks have been serving in the military (likely for all of its history), and trans folks will continue to serve in the military even with this turn of events. An estimate by the RAND corporation put the number of current active duty trans service members at between
1,320 and 6,630
individuals another by the Williams Institute put the number around 15,000 including all active duty, guard, and reserve members (with an estimate of more than 100,000 trans veterans). And survey numbers suggest that trans folks serve at a higher rate than the general population - the US Trans Survey found that 15% of respondents were veterans, compared with 8% of the general population. These brave individuals are serving and have served in spite of major barriers and social stigma, and have fought and died bravely for a country that has continued to deny them equal rights.Many of our close allies and partners including the UK, Canada, Germany, France, Australia, etc. allow trans folks to serve openly. And
Boost.
