g. You may remember way back 100 scandals ago when President Trump announced a transgender military ban, and basically every court was like, “Hmm…pass.” TBH I’d hoped he was too busy trolling people on twitter to remember it. Sadly, the administration came out with a memo in March basically stating that trans service members should be banned from serving because of medical costs and potential problems for “team bonding”. If being a problem for “team bonding” is a reason to keep someone from joining the military, then does that mean I’m disqualified from service due to my hatred of ice breakers? Just a thought…
WTF Does This Policy Even Mean?
Based off President Trump’s recommendation, the Pentagon crafted a policy that uses mental health as the gateway to kicking trans people out of the military. Very sneaky, sis.
What The Pentagon Says: According to the Pentagon, this is the same mental health standard the military holds across the board, so it’s not discriminatory. Individuals who are diagnosed with gender dysphoria, aka “a conflict between a person’s physical or assigned gender and the gender with which he/she/they identify,” according to the American Psychiatric Association, are not deemed fit to serve based off the mental health issues their gender dysphoria creates. Under this policy, all trans people are considered mentally ill, just by virtue of being trans. But my cousin Alex the white rapper who owns a hundred guns and believes in chemtrails can join the Air Force no problem. Got it.
What The ACLU Says: Basically, they call BS. According to the ACLU, there is nothing to differentiate this “new” policy, from the old one Trump announced via Twitter that has already been struck down by the courts a casual 4 times. They say the policy amounts to nothing more than a wholesale ban on trans people based on the fact that they are trans, with a small exception being bade for people who are already trans and serving in the military (an estimated 15,000 people).
What The Sup Says: What year is it? Classifying transgender identity as a mental disorder is supes offensive and also wrong. Is Freud suddenly in charge here? What is happening to the world? This feels very “don’t ask, don’t tell,” which was deemed ‘OVER’ in 2011. Denying people the right to do what makes them feel like who they are and matches up with their physical appearance seems like a violation of human right to me.
But Like, What Can I Do About It?
I mean, first of all, just be nice to trans people. Listen to them. Acknowledge them. Support them in their lives, especially if that live involves putting themselves in danger to protect their country. You can also sign this petition, donate to the ACLU, and text ‘resist’ to 504-09 to let your representatives in Congress know you support letting any trans person who wants to serve do so openly and authentically.
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