Aubree and I have been best friends since preschool. I can’t remember a single Halloween, Christmas, or birthday I haven’t spent with her. When you are kids, you think a family consists of a mom, dad, and possibly a brother and sister; cause that’s what the movies show. For the time being ignorance is bliss. The world around you seems like a perfect vessel. It isn’t until you’re older and you find out that the world isn’t as simple as you think it is and that the perfect family may not exist. I could tell a change in Aubree for a while, but whenever I asked what was wrong she just got mad or pushed it aside. What was so terrible she couldn’t tell her best friend? It took almost a year for her to open to me about what was going on. Her dad was transgender. I don’t know how I didn’t notice the change before, her dad never acknowledged me anymore and I never saw him around the house. He was always tucked upstairs, on the third floor in his office. The more I began to understand the entire situation the more frustrated I became. 

I soon learned that the military paid for his transition due to his service in Iraq in the late 1980’s.  At the time, I was confused as to why the military would pay for his surgeries, counseling, and hormones especially since it had been so long after he had served.  

On February 28, 1994, former president Bill Clinton passed the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. The policy prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while barring openly gay, lesbian or bisexual persons from military service. Furthermore, the policy states that prohibited people, who "demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts", from serving in the military, because their presence "would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability". In her book The Gay Revolution, author Lillian Faderman addresses how this bill was the first time any gay or lesbian policy was passed in congress. It was a step in the right direction for equal rights for the gay military community. When Obama was elected he made great strides to try to repeal the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. He received great backlash from the pentagon and just like President Clinton took a step back from the issue. 

President Donald Trump announced on July 26 on Twitter that “the united states government will no longer accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S military.” At first glance, I was angry because I thought this was discriminatory, and I can see why many people would feel the same way, if transgenders pass the entrance examination why should the not be allowed to serve our country. As I looked deeper into the topic I realized it is more complicated issue than it seems.

 In an academic journal written by Alford Brandon, he further examined the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy and how it affected today’s society. He speaks on how members of the LGBT community do not fit the military’s “warrior identity”. This point may prove a more difficult transition of LGBT service members into service. Cisgender service members may re-quire additional sensitivity or diversity training to foster an environment that welcomes those who identify as transgender. The transition is not easy for anyone to go through and I have seen that with Aubree’s dad who was thrilled to become a woman. After his transition he was irritable, self-conscious, weak, and depressed. Two years later he is still struggling with his identity in a city where transgenders are largely accepted. In the military, which is not the most loving community for LGBT personnel, it would be hard for a person who is going through the transition to feel safe and secure. 

The financial burden transgender’s put on the military is not one the United States can afford. In Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert’s 10-year plan, he claims the projected 10-year cost of transgender personnel in the military going through transitions and taking hormones, would be three to four billion dollars. This would-be funded by tax payer dollars amounting to an average 130,000 dollars per transgender surgery. This would also include lifelong hormone treatments, in addition to salary costs for the two years they are in a non-deployable status.  This money could otherwise be used to pay willing men and women who are ready to go overseas and fight for our country. While countless homeless vets are currently sleeping under cardboard boxes, or waiting for life-saving care from the Department of Veterans Affairs, we learn that transgender military recruits now qualify for preferential coverage for sex change procedures that are scientifically unproven and extremely costly. Rehabilitation, after the transition procedure can also take another year or two. It has been 14 months since Aubree’s dad underwent the surgery and he is still not able to perform anywhere near the athletic ability he could before the change. These soldiers are taking up space, time, resources, and money away from better causes for their own personal gain. The National Center for Transgender Equality conducted a survey asking questions raising from how life at school and work are to the number of transenders who are involved in sex and other underground economy work. The survey showed that once a person undergoes the transition surgery they are 40 percent more likely to commit suicide. Therefore, the staggeringly high rate of suicide maintaining transgender soldiers is a poor investment by the military.

When a person goes through the transition into a new gender it interferes with a platoon’s dynamic. A platoon is a subdivision of a company of soldiers, usually forming a tactical unit that is commanded by a lieutenant and divided into several sections. If a platoon has been training for a year to do things a certain way, then a member has to leave for an unnecessary reason it makes the soldiers rework the entire way they function. What if they are deployed in Afghanistan a member decided to go through the transition? The entire training goes down the drain and they have to figure out a way to make up for the lost person while they are fighting our nations enemies. While it throws off the professional group dynamic, it can also affect the way his or her fellow soldiers perceive them. Being American, we are afforded with free speech and our own opinion. Therefore, if transgenders voice their opinion it can cause turmoil throughout the entire platoon. Furthermore, once the surgery has taken place the recovery prohibits any military personnel from any physical activity for at least six months. These processes make a disruption in the platoon dynamic. 

Autumn Asphodel made a documentary on the first six months of her transition and her recovery process. She states “It has been 6 months since my surgery. But, I still have a lot of swelling, scars, numb areas, and spots that are very slow to heal. Scarring is very bad, still very red and various scar therapies I have tried don’t work.” She is still not happy with herself and six months after her surgery she is still not able to perform everyday tasks. Our military is supposed to be the strongest fighting force in the country. We cannot afford to pay members of our military who cannot fight contribute as our military’s strangh. The United States is a team. On a team, you are only as strong as your weakest player.  If our weakest player cannot preform everyday tasks, then what does it say about our military. Walt Heyer a former transgender states in his article, “The military is expected to prepare its members in warfare: to kill, destroy, and break our enemies. The most important factors in preparing a strong military are not hormone therapy, surgical sex changes, or politically correct education.” We need psychologically fit, emotionally sound, highly trained troops to protect our nation from its enemies. If a person has gone through the surgery before they take the placement test, I see no reason for them to not be allowed to enlist in the military. Jocelyn Elders writes in her academic journal about the medical impact that going through the transition may have on a soldier. She argues that while going through the transition may make a person physically unstable, she agrees that if they are able to pass the entrance exam, our military can benefit from soldiers who are willing and able to fight. That being said, the military should not be held responsible for any financial health resources they may need due to the transition process once enlisted. 

People immigrate to the United States from all over world to achieve what they believe is their “American dream”. Even though we are fortunate enough to live in a country that gives us the freedom to choose what kind of person we want to be, the military has strict laws and regulations to maintain the strongest fighting force we can achieve. The military is put into place to protect and support our country, and thus needs to hold a certain degree of respect from the rest of the world. We cannot be sensitive while trying to sustain the strongest army in the world.
