Transgender Service Members: Serving in Silence

AND?

Actually they can't be separated because separation authority is withheld at the the Department of Defense level. As far as the question about should they be accepted for military service the answer rests with our civilian leaders, the President and Congress regardless of our personal beliefs. We execute and enforce policy; we don't make it.

I happen to know for a fact that there is some transgender Military GOOD Soldiers and Airman that ARE serving right this second and they are doing one hell of a job too....Funny thing is is that you wouldn't even know it if you were standing right smack next to them either!! One guy I almost fell out of my seat when I saw him and then later learned his so called secret. And I didn't give a crap either. All that mattered to me is that HE kept on doing the fine job that he was doing and Soldier on! He was more of a man then the next guy. It's only jerks that would make a big issue that would ruin his or her lives when and if they found out, because they don't want to learn about it. It's in the brain and not between theirs legs.....

It used to be serving your Country. Now it is about who you want to sleep with or dress up as.

I honestly would rather know upfront, than to find out the wrong way and it be some big surprise!

First of all I have never had a class given by the Government to explain Transgender and the LGBT. Personally I don't know what there likes are wants are which bathroom and showers do they use if its open bay showers as it were many years ago. The Government need to explain in classes who are these people, or you will have discriminatory practices. As a retired police officer, I do remember taking to jail what I thought were a male and listed the person being arrested as male. That what I thought were a male were placed into the male population of jail. Days later the County Jail called and stated this inmate had been having sex with about all the males in jail, it turned out to be more women then man, the complete operation hadn't been completed to move all the penis. She had to be put in a segregated cell for her own protection.

I am not PC. If they were born with a Penis, they are a male and they dress, act and are treated as such. If they were born with a Vagina just the opposite. If they want to play act off duty that is their own private business. Their sex life is not my business as a soldier. Their on duty behavior is. Their public appearance represents the military and should be the same as on duty. What consenting adults do in the privacy of their home sexually is none, and should never be my concern, keep it private.

First off I am thinking of transgender as someone who has been operated on to alter their reproductive organs. In my opinion, anyone who simply dresses, acts or self idendifies as the opposite sex that they were born as are gays that are cross-dressing. While cross-dressing off-duty is an entirely different can of worms I don't think it would be fair to the military population as a whole to force them to share community hygiene areas and billets with what amounts to be the opposite sex. Also a service member should follow the Physical Training and Uniform Standards of the sex they currently are, not what they self identify as.
I think the crux of the matter, and a genuine concern, is if the Military starts recruiting people with gender identity issues who haven't resolved them yet. Unlike recruiting a gay person, someone who is transgender is unhappy with their physical sexuality to the point they feel the need to surgically alter it.
Face it, our recruiting focus is mentally, physically and morally ( by that I mean lack of a criminal recod) qualified citizens age 18-25. There are very few transgender individuals who have mentally and physicallky resolved this issue by that age.
Accepting pre-operation trans-gender recruits is simply a bad investment by the military, unless they are ready to serve their entire enlistment without gender reassignment surgery. Kristen (formally Christpher) Beck served 20 years in the US Navy then elected to have transgender service after retirement, without government funding.
In my opinion someone with Gender Dysphoria has a pre-existing medical condition that should not to be considered to be service connected once they enlist. "Corrective" surgery is a long process involving intensive pre-op and post-op counseling and therapy which will mean a lot of lost duty days.
Why should the military accept an enlistee who they know will be not physically fit for duty most of their initial enlistment?.
As far as post operation transgender individuals who are well adjusted and are qualified to serve, I have no issues with them serving like anyone else.

First of all....The MTF (Male to Females) don't "cut" their penis off. So that right there tells me that SGT. Ash has not done any reading on the subject what's so ever, and I assume he chooses not to because he rather be naive on the matter and be hateful towards those who are transgender? That's what I gather by reading his post. I'm not being a jerk towards him (you Sgt.) only trying to be more adult on this subject matter. You and others of course are entitled to your opinion and voice what you think such as I can. I defend some transgender folks because I know some who are serving and who did serve and you would be shocked that you didn't even know that you sat right smack next to one and didn't even know it. There are Doctors and police officers who are transgenders who served right along side me during war time and I was honored to have them next to me! They don't act any different then you and I....And by the way, they know their gender pretty much by the age of 3. So that comment of not knowing and or can't make up their minds of what sex they want to be is very off the mark. But that just tells me how much you don't know, and un-willing to learn. But you rather say cruel things.....And that's just very sad to me. Again, I'm allowed to voice my concerns as you all are and I'm not bashing anyone. I'm trying to educate. I look at all of you as fellow brothers and sisters.

While I am personally sick of 'political correctness' and find "transgender" distasteful, if someone meets the standard they meet the standard, and if they do not, then they don't. It really is that simple. The standards for military Service are there for good reason, and for good order. I will leave it there. Thank you.