This debate is about gender dysphoria, not transgender military service
by Jamie Shupe, MercatorNet:
As a transgender military veteran, an Army retiree and the first person in the United States to have their sex legally declared as non-binary, I have a vested interest in the outcome of the transgender military service ban.
In the days when transgender military service was banned, I spent 18 years of torment fearing that I might not get my retirement check and the subsequent military benefits. Today that pension income is my livelihood while living as a birth member of America’s most hated minority group. These military retirement benefits are also my source of healthcare.
But as a former senior enlisted military leader, I also have a duty to speak the truth about the problems with transgender military service.
The same military leadership manual that taught me to always do what’s right for the Army and for the nation continues to guide me to speak honestly.
When Missouri Representative Vicky Hartzler pointed out that a service member becomes non-deployable for 210 to 238 workdays, that doesn’t make her a bigot.
The harsh truth is she’s simply being a good custodian of the nation’s tax dollars and making sure our military is combat-ready at all times. Being combat-ready means that as many people as possible are deployable on a moment’s notice. Hartzler would be derelict in her duties as a member of the House Armed Services Committee if we’re not.
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