Posted on Sep 15, 2015
Why Do Transgender People Join the Military in Such High Numbers?
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As a young psychiatry resident at Ohio's Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in the 1980s, Dr. George Brown was surprised the first time he saw a transgender patient.
Estimates at the time were that for every 100,000 biological males in the general population, no more than three were transgender.
Brown figured the rate had to be even lower in the all-volunteer military. It made little sense to him that a transgender person would choose to join an institution that by its nature had no tolerance for deviance.
Yet over the next three years, Brown saw 10 more transgender patients -- all of them seeking hormone therapy and male-to-female gender reassignment surgery. He began to suspect that the military, despite its ban on allowing transgender people to serve, was somehow attracting them at a disproportionately high rate.
The Pentagon is now weighing whether to lift its ban on transgender service members and is expected to do so next year. As the policy is reviewed, researchers are citing evidence that bears out Brown's hunch of three decades go.
Transgender people are present in the armed services at a higher rate than in the general population.
The latest analysis, published last year by UCLA researchers, estimated that nearly 150,000 transgender people have served in the military, or about 21 percent of all transgender adults in the U.S. By comparison, 10 percent of the general population has served.
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/09/14/why-do-transgender-people-join-the-military-in-such-high-numbers.html?ESRC=army.nl
Estimates at the time were that for every 100,000 biological males in the general population, no more than three were transgender.
Brown figured the rate had to be even lower in the all-volunteer military. It made little sense to him that a transgender person would choose to join an institution that by its nature had no tolerance for deviance.
Yet over the next three years, Brown saw 10 more transgender patients -- all of them seeking hormone therapy and male-to-female gender reassignment surgery. He began to suspect that the military, despite its ban on allowing transgender people to serve, was somehow attracting them at a disproportionately high rate.
The Pentagon is now weighing whether to lift its ban on transgender service members and is expected to do so next year. As the policy is reviewed, researchers are citing evidence that bears out Brown's hunch of three decades go.
Transgender people are present in the armed services at a higher rate than in the general population.
The latest analysis, published last year by UCLA researchers, estimated that nearly 150,000 transgender people have served in the military, or about 21 percent of all transgender adults in the U.S. By comparison, 10 percent of the general population has served.
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/09/14/why-do-transgender-people-join-the-military-in-such-high-numbers.html?ESRC=army.nl
Posted in these groups: 
Transgender
Military Industry
Transgender Military Industry
Posted >1 y ago
This is a duplicate discussion and the contents have been merged with the original discussion. Click below to see more on this topic...
"US Military Transgender Service Ban: Research Shows Trans People Twice As Likely As Members Of General Population To Serve In Armed Forces"
From: IB Times
As the Pentagon considers an end to its ban on transgender people serving in the United States military, evidence is growing that transgender individuals join the armed services at a rate much higher than previously thought, the Los Angeles Times reported. The theory, which was first proposed by Dr. George Brown of East Tennessee State University in the 1980s, could prove crucial as advocates fight to end the ban, which the military could do by 2016.
Brown developed his assertion while serving as a psychiatry resident at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. In a subsequent 1988 research paper, Brown theorized that transgender individuals – both male-to-female and female-to-male – were drawn to military service because of what he called a “flight into hypermasculinity.” They’d join the military to prove their manhood, often due to an inability to accept their identity.
“I just kept hearing the same story over and over,” Brown told the LA Times.
A 2014 study by University of California Los Angeles academics estimated that 21 percent of the United States’ transgender population – about 150,000 people – had served in the armed forces. The service rate among the general population is 10 percent. In that study, researchers said a review of Veterans Health Administration records from 2000 to 2011 found former service members presented Gender Identity Disorder five times more often than the country’s general population, Navy Times reported.
Separate research by Gary Gates of UCLA’s Williams Institute, which studies gender identity policy issues, estimated three of every 1,000 American citizens is transgender, LA Times noted.
Researchers have yet to determine a statistical consensus for the rate of transgender service in the military. The U.S. Census Bureau does not track the data necessary to provide a national figure.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced a review of the Pentagon’s policy on transgender military service last July. As part of the review, officials will conduct a six-month study to determine how lifting the ban would affect military cohesion and effectiveness, the Associated Press reported in July. Carter stressed the study would occur with an initial assumption that transgender service wouldn’t have a negative impact.
"The Defense Department's current regulations regarding transgender service members are outdated and are causing uncertainty that distracts commanders from our core missions," Carter said in a statement in July. "At a time when our troops have learned from experience that the most important qualification for service members should be whether they're able and willing to do their job, our officers and enlisted personnel are faced with certain rules that tell them the opposite."
http://www.ibtimes.com/us-military-transgender-service-ban-research-shows-trans-people-twice-likely-members-2084521
From: IB Times
As the Pentagon considers an end to its ban on transgender people serving in the United States military, evidence is growing that transgender individuals join the armed services at a rate much higher than previously thought, the Los Angeles Times reported. The theory, which was first proposed by Dr. George Brown of East Tennessee State University in the 1980s, could prove crucial as advocates fight to end the ban, which the military could do by 2016.
Brown developed his assertion while serving as a psychiatry resident at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. In a subsequent 1988 research paper, Brown theorized that transgender individuals – both male-to-female and female-to-male – were drawn to military service because of what he called a “flight into hypermasculinity.” They’d join the military to prove their manhood, often due to an inability to accept their identity.
“I just kept hearing the same story over and over,” Brown told the LA Times.
A 2014 study by University of California Los Angeles academics estimated that 21 percent of the United States’ transgender population – about 150,000 people – had served in the armed forces. The service rate among the general population is 10 percent. In that study, researchers said a review of Veterans Health Administration records from 2000 to 2011 found former service members presented Gender Identity Disorder five times more often than the country’s general population, Navy Times reported.
Separate research by Gary Gates of UCLA’s Williams Institute, which studies gender identity policy issues, estimated three of every 1,000 American citizens is transgender, LA Times noted.
Researchers have yet to determine a statistical consensus for the rate of transgender service in the military. The U.S. Census Bureau does not track the data necessary to provide a national figure.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced a review of the Pentagon’s policy on transgender military service last July. As part of the review, officials will conduct a six-month study to determine how lifting the ban would affect military cohesion and effectiveness, the Associated Press reported in July. Carter stressed the study would occur with an initial assumption that transgender service wouldn’t have a negative impact.
"The Defense Department's current regulations regarding transgender service members are outdated and are causing uncertainty that distracts commanders from our core missions," Carter said in a statement in July. "At a time when our troops have learned from experience that the most important qualification for service members should be whether they're able and willing to do their job, our officers and enlisted personnel are faced with certain rules that tell them the opposite."
http://www.ibtimes.com/us-military-transgender-service-ban-research-shows-trans-people-twice-likely-members-2084521
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