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Title: Pentagon to Lift Transgender Ban in the Military
Source:
Time
URL Source: http://time.com/3956512/transngender-military-service-ban/
Published: Jul 13, 2015
Author: Eliza Gray
Post Date: 2015-07-13 23:57:36 by Hondo68
Keywords: provide a smooth path to, transgender military service, hormones surgeries during tran
Views: 9790
Comments: 45
The Pentagon announced Monday that it will stop barring transgender people from serving in the military. In a statement, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said that the existing regulations against transgender service members were “outdated” and “causing uncertainty” that distracts troop commanders. “We have transgender soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines — real, patriotic Americans — who I know are being hurt by an outdated, confusing, inconsistent approach that’s contrary to our value of service and individual merit,” he said. Carter said the Pentagon will create a working group over the next six months to study “the policy and readiness implications of welcoming transgender persons to serve openly,” to be led by Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, Brad Carson. The language of the statement suggests that the working group has not been convened to determine whether transgender people will be able to serve openly, but simply to determine how the policy should be carried out. “At my direction, the working group will start with the presumption that transgender persons can serve openly without adverse impact on military effectiveness and readiness, unless and except where objective, practical impediments are identified,” Carter said. In the meantime, according to the statement, any soldiers suggested for discharge on the basis of their transgender identity will be referred to the top of the chain and reviewed by Under Secretary Carson. In an earlier story about the details, the Associated Press reported that transgender persons would be able to serve during the six month study period by the working group. Transgender advocates and experts on military policy say that such a review is necessary to work out the details of how best to incorporate transgender service, which will involve decisions about things like uniforms and medical best practices that were not at issue in the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Some transgender soldiers decide to take hormones and get surgeries during transition. “With [DADT], all you needed to do was snap your fingers to lift the ban. It was clear how repeal would work. In this case it makes sense to review administrative policies to guide commanders in inclusive policy,” said Aaron Belkin, executive director of the Palm Center, a think tank that promotes the study of LGBT people in the armed forces. “Every administrative policy needs to be discussed from grooming styles to uniforms. You don’t need to do a lot, but you do need to sit down and take a look,” he said. In August, the Palm Center issued a report offering a road map to the kinds of new policies that may need to be written to provide a smooth path to transgender military service. Other advocates cheered the lifting of the ban. “This change is happening because Secretary Carter and other senior civilian and uniform leaders in the Pentagon have gotten to know transgender service members and they’ve seen how this ban hurts them and their families, and how it hurts units and military readiness,” said Allyson Robinson, the director of policy at SPARTA, a group of LGBT people who have served in the military. “They are not satisfied to have a military says stand for inclusion and quality and doesn’t live up to those values when it comes to transgender Americans.” President Obama has previously hinted at his support for such a measure, and Secretary Carter said at a Pentagon Pride event last month that the military must get to “a place where no one serves in silence, and where we treat all our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines with the dignity, and the respect, that they deserve,” according to NBC News. The Williams Institute at UCLA estimates that 15,500 transgender people currently serve in the armed forces. 
Samuel Corum—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter speaks to veterans during the Vietnam War Commemoration ceremony at the Capitol in Washington, DC on July 8, 2015.One study estimated that 15,500 transgender people currently serve.
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#3. To: hondo68 (#0)
The military is becoming a social experiment.
That's been happening ever since the 1950's. After all,it's the only group of Americans the left can just order to go along with their nonsense.
The 50's was about race, but this is a bit different considering the close quarters in the military. Especially, how do the civvies demanding this expect it go during the period of transition? Do they keep men in the male barracks while they grow boobs? Do they have men in the female barracks with a full package? Their 15,500 statistic cannot possibly be limited to those who have fully transitioned, including surgery. It would appear to be an estimate of those who identify with the other sex, but have not transitioned. Will the military pay for the transition surgery? Enlist and get your surgery paid for! I can see that giving a boost to recruiting. And if the service is not their thing, a section 8 is available.
They most likely expect Kumbaya parties and group hugs because that is what THEY would do if it were them. Almost none of the people in the decision-making process have ever served in uniform even in the Reserves,and of the few that did,not a single one of them served in a line unit in combat and can begin to understand the harm they are doing. They see the military as the idea petri dish to practice social engineering because they can totally control the outcome,instead of as the prime organization to fight wars to protect America. And why should they,since they want to see America disassembled and put under the control of a world wide socialist (in reality,fascist) government. And America where the citizens have free will is their natural enemy,and must be destroyed. "For our own good",of course.
I agree that the prime, almost only consideration, should be how their decision affects the military as a fighting unit. The military structure is being weakened. Well qualified people will choose not to volunteer, or not to re-up. Where does the transitioning tranny with boobs and a dick go to shower? Just how many facilities can the magic unicorn invent on a ship? This rather reminds me of the civ geniuses who changed the Navy enlisted dress uniforms to shirts, jackets, and normal trousers back around '75. It did not last too long. The crackerjack uni's could be folded up, stored, taken out and worn. On ships, there was no individual storage to hang the other things up. They ordered stand-up lockers to be installed but it never happened. Their order did not include redesigning ships to add space for the lockers. At their best, those uni's looked like crap anyway. Another brain fart was polyester pullover work shirts. They discovered that in a fire, plastic melts (duh), which was a real problem for anyone wearing that crap. (Not too good for motorcycles either.)
The denim work shirts and pants was one of the few things I admired about the Navy. You do know the Navy now has it's own camouflage shirt,trouser,and hat "battle fatigues",right? Identical to the ground forces battle fatigues,but blue with some sort of different color pattern that will do nothing at all to hide the huge boat they are floating around on. Talk about a waste of money for little boys to play soldier! You would think that somewhere along the line someone would have pointed out to them "Hey! If the enemy can see the big-ass boat they are floating around on or detect the submarine they are on,it makes no difference at all what kind of uniforms they are wearing. They might as well be wearing bright International Orange jump suits.",and cut the funding or use the money elsewhere. But alas,Admirals like to play dress-up,too. I've asked a few sailors I have seen wearing these ridiculous "cammies"why there isn't white mixed it to symbolize seagull shit. They seemed to have no idea what I was talking about.
#42. To: sneakypete (#38)
I don't believe those are for shipboard use. I suppose SEALs and maybe SeaBees use that stuff, or have their own, but the primary use I knew of for the standard Navy camo gear was for the Hospital Corpsmen who deploy with Marine Corps units to the battlefield. When the deploying corpsmen were all dressed up in camo at the hospital they were called trees.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest“We have transgender soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines — real, patriotic Americans — who I know are being hurt by an outdated, confusing, inconsistent approach that’s contrary to our value of service and individual merit,” he said.
#15. To: nolu chan (#3)
The military is becoming a social experiment.
#24. To: sneakypete (#15)
That's been happening ever since the 1950's. After all,it's the only group of Americans the left can just order to go along with their nonsense.
#28. To: nolu chan (#24)
Especially, how do the civvies demanding this expect it go during the period of transition?
#36. To: sneakypete (#28)
Almost none of the people in the decision-making process have ever served in uniform even in the Reserves,and of the few that did,not a single one of them served in a line unit in combat and can begin to understand the harm they are doing. They see the military as the idea petri dish to practice social engineering because they can totally control the outcome,instead of as the prime organization to fight wars to protect America.
#38. To: nolu chan (#36)
(Edited)
This rather reminds me of the civ geniuses who changed the Navy enlisted dress uniforms to shirts, jackets, and normal trousers back around '75. It did not last too long. The crackerjack uni's could be folded up, stored, taken out and worn. On ships, there was no individual storage to hang the other things up. They ordered stand-up lockers to be installed but it never happened. Their order did not include redesigning ships to add space for the lockers. At their best, those uni's looked like crap anyway.
Replies to Comment # 38. You do know the Navy now has it's own camouflage shirt,trouser,and hat "battle fatigues",right? Identical to the ground forces battle fatigues,but blue with some sort of different color pattern that will do nothing at all to hide the huge boat they are floating around on.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 38.
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