Whatever I think about someone being transgender has nothing to do with what I am about to say. My opinion on transgenderism has nothing to do with someone’s choice to be or not to be transgender, that’s simply that person’s choice. However, whether or not they should be in the military? Well, I personally think it would be a huge and dangerous distraction which would put ALL of our troops in harms way!
But that’s not why I’m going to say what I’m going to say.
It’s really quite simple folks. NO ONE has a RIGHT to join the military. There I said it.
Just because a person wants to be a pilot or a football player or a ballerina or a teacher or a truck driver or a doctor does not mean they have the RIGHT to be whatever it is they have chosen. There are tests and training a person has to go through. These tests don’t care if you are white, black, brown, purple or green, they don’t care if you are male, female, transgender, no gender or anything else. You simply have to be able to pass the test.
When I was growing up I wanted to be a writer, singer, dancer, actor and spy! I can sing, but I’m no Celine or Kenny Rodgers or Charley Pride or Patsy Cline or Frank Sinatra. So much for the singing part. I can’t walk and chew gum at the same time, I was a bit of a clutz when it came to sports, so much for dancing. I’ve never been a spy, but I like watching spy movies, so maybe. Same with being an actor. And as you know, I’m working on the writing thing. But just because I wanted to be or do these things, does not give me the right to demand that society or some institution allow me to be a singer, dancer, actor, spy, writer. At one point I decided to take the easy route, or so I thought, and be a teacher. I took all my college courses, did my student teaching, passed my background checks and the state tests and I became a teacher. Which I enjoyed being for about 4 years. But I didn’t have a RIGHT to be a teacher. I had to pass the college courses and all the tests!
I’ve also been in the military, during the tale end of the Viet Nam era. My basic training was tough. Not as tough as some say it has been, but it was tough. Our troop was the first all female troop to have a male drill seargent. Drill Seargeant Spence was a great leader, and I’d like to think we did him proud! But I didn’t have a RIGHT to join the Army. First I had to pass a psychological and intelligence test at the recruiters office and I had to meet certain height and weight criteria. Which I did. I know of a couple of my high school chums that couldn’t get in because they were too short and overweight, and the other had a problem with his feet. While I was in basic training there were at least 2 girls who were kicked out for different reasons. One had a physical problem that didn’t get caught during the first part of the process with the recruiters. The second had some psychological issues. She actually tried to fake strep throat and then the measles just to get out of duty assignments during basic training. They didn’t make it because they couldn’t handle it. They didn’t have a right to be in the army, they had to pass tests. Basic training was the 2nd level of those tests. These tests have nothing to do with your race, religion, sexuality or political opinions. These tests are about whether or not you are physically and psychologically able to be in combat!! That’s it. It’s that simple.
So to repeat myself, I don’t care of you are transhuman, transgender, translunar, transanything, You have no RIGHT to be in the military. If you can’t pass the physical and psychological tests then you do not belong in the military. The other military members who do pass the tests have to be able to count on the others in their troop to keep each other safe and get the job done. They can’t do that if they know they have someone with fragile emotions or other health issues in their group. Just can’t happen.
Keep in mind that suicide rates for transgenders are considerably higher than for those who are not transgenders. According to USA Today Suicide attempts are alarmingly common among transgender individuals such as Lampe; 41% try to kill themselves at some point in their lives, compared with 4.6% of the general public. The numbers come from a study by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the Williams Institute, which analyzed results from the National Transgender Discrimination Survey. . This does not seem to fit well with the idea of them passing the psychological tests to become a military member.
One last time, I don’t care what race, religion, color, gender etc you are, you don’t have a RIGHT to be in the military, or to be a doctor or ballerina.
Whatever you choose to do or to be, I wish you well, so long as you can pass the test!
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