In 1968 Cate O’Malley enlisted in the United States Coast Guard. While she was not “out” as a trans woman she volunteered to join the military and serve our country. Now she finds herself decades later being told that she and her trans brothers and sisters are not wanted in the United State armed forces. She has some words for our Commander-in-Chief in her blog post today.
The U.S. military is currently examining the ban on transgender people serving openly. But directives issued last year by the Department of Defense make it clear that the military is aware of its trans soldiers and is going to let them serve openly. Dana Bevan believes that while the road to trans acceptance in the U.S. military is going to be short one the various branches of the service are not at all prepared to deliver medical care to trans soldiers, sailors and airmen/women. Does she think they can get their act together? Read on and see.
Recent changes in the military have given some hope that the estimated 15,000 plus trans soldiers will be able to serve openly in the near future. Is it reasonable to assume that since a few signs of progress have been seen that the services will quickly change their transgender policy? Babs Casbar Siperstein takes a look at the progress made.
No, we are not talking about Top Gun or 12 O’clock High, we are talking about the tendency of transgender people to join the military. It is well documented that transgender people join the military at about twice the rate of the United States general population. Understanding of why transgender people are attracted to the […]
Did you enlist in the armed forces to escape your transgender tendencies? Did you get married believing that settling down in a committer relationship would “cure” you? Is that really what goes on with TGs who enlist or get married? Some studies say yes, enlisting in the armed forces is a flight to hyper masculinity. Having to be the “man” in a relationship may be seen as another “cure” for TG issues. But are these behaviors what they appear to be? Could there be another reason why TGs join the military or get married? Dr. Dana Bevan has another hypothesis.
