When, Not If, Will We See Open Transgender Military Service?

I don't care what your sexuality is. I don't care what your politics are. I don't care what religion you practice. I don't want people shoving all of it in my face all the time. Hi!, I'm Mark and I am a republican, heterosexual Christian. Hi! I'm Mark and I am a republican, heterosexual Christian. Hi! I'm Mark and I am a republican, heterosexual, Christian. Good for me. Good for you. Hi! I'm Mark and I am a proud American service member. One team...one fight!, but quit ramming all your individuality down my throat. Be proud of being an American where you are free. Now pick up your weapon and follow me!

I thought that veterans preferred to be recognized, because of their heroic actions not because of their sexual preference or identity. I personally do not care about a persons sex life, but if you must remind me over and over then I guess is all that I will remember about you. I assuming the argument is rater or not taxpayer money should be spent on sex change operations for service members. Is it basic and essential to military efficiency or is it a cosmetic operation.

If you want to be a man, be one. If you want to be a woman, then go ahead. Its not my business to have a say in what you want to do with the one body you were given. But the government shouldn't have to deal with 'wants'. I'm not trying to say that transgenders are less human, but I simply don't understand how everyone is expected to see this as a necessary surgery.

If being transgender gets in the way of your duties then you should't be in the military.

BLUF: you have to ask yourself how bad do you want to serve your country before you get in the military. What good are you to me as the combat commander in the ground, if what you want to do takes you out of the fight for 6 to 12 months. The answer is you're not any good to me. I need soldiers on the line that are fit to fight. Be fit to fight when you get there. If that means paying for your own gender reassignment surgery before you enter the military, then that's what that means.

Why should I care? The answer is simple....I should not and I don't. Do your job and stop advertising your sexual identity. Nobody cares!

Is anyone aware there is a Mental disorder that can accompany this desire to have a sex change?

Gender Dysphoria formerly known as Gender Identity Disorder.

ARTICLE: When You Don't Feel At Home With Your Gender

Undiagnosed or Untreated Gender Dysphoria

People who have gender dysphoria feel strongly that they are not the gender they physically appear to be.

For example, a person who has a penis and all other physical traits of a male might feel instead that he is actually a female. That person would have an intense desire to have a female body and to be accepted by others as a female. Or, someone with the physical characteristics of a female would feel her true identity is male.

Feeling that your body does not reflect your true gender can cause severe distress, anxiety, and depression. "Dysphoria" is a feeling of dissatisfaction, anxiety, and restlessness. With gender dysphoria, the discomfort with your male or female body can be so intense that it can interfere with the way you function in normal life, for instance at school or work or during social activities.

Gender dysphoria used to be called “gender identity disorder.” But the mismatch between body and internal sense of gender is not a mental illness. Instead, what need to be addressed are the stress, anxiety, and depression that go along with it.

The condition has also been called “transsexualism.” But this term is outdated. Some consider it offensive. Now “transgender” is often used to describe someone who feels his or her body and gender do not match.

Gender nonconforming (GNC) is a broader term that can include people with gender dysphoria. But it can also describe people who feel that they are neither only male or only female. Informally, people who identify with both genders or with neither gender might call themselves "genderqueer."

Gender dysphoria is not homosexuality. Your internal sense of your gender is not the same as your sexual orientation.

In teens and adults, symptoms may include:

•Certainty that their true gender is not aligned with their body.
•Disgust with their genitals. They may avoid showering, changing clothes, or having sex in order to avoid seeing or touching their genitals.
•Strong desire to be rid of their genitals and other sex traits.

Undiagnosed or Untreated Gender Dysphoria

Diagnosis and treatment are important. People with gender dysphoria have higher rates of mental health conditions. Some estimates say that 71% of people with gender dysphoria will have some other mental health diagnosis in their lifetime. That includes mood disorders, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, depression, substance abuse, eating disorders, and suicide attempts.

Treatment?

The goal is not to change how the person feels about his or her gender. Instead, the goal is to deal with the distress that may come with those feelings.

Talking with a psychologist or psychiatrist is part of any treatment for gender dysphoria. "Talk" therapy is one way to address the mental health issues that this condition can cause.

Beyond talk therapy, many people choose to take at least some steps to bring their physical appearance in line with how they feel inside. They might change the way they dress or go by a different name. They may also take medicine or have surgery to change their appearance. Possible treatments include:
• Puberty blockers -- A young person in early puberty with gender dysphoria might ask to be prescribed hormones (testosterone or estrogen) that would suppress physical changes. Before making that decision, the young person should talk with a pediatrician and sometimes a psychiatrist about the pros and cons of taking these hormones, especially at a young age.
• Hormones – Teens or adults may take the hormones estrogen or testosterone to develop traits of the sex that they identify with.
• Surgery – Some people choose to have complete sex-reassignment surgery. This used to be called a sex-change operation. But not everyone does. People may choose to have only some procedures done in order to bring their looks more in line with their feelings.

With their therapists, people choose the treatment that is right for them based on what they want and what they already look like.

After transitioning, a person may no longer feel dysphoria. But the person may still need therapy. Friends, family, co-workers, potential employers, and religious groups can sometimes have a hard time understanding when someone’s gender appears to change. This and other challenges of transitioning can call for professional help.

Is It Just a Phase?

One of the most common questions that parents of children with gender dysphoria ask their pediatricians is, "Is it just a phase?"

Unfortunately, there is no way to know for sure. Not all young children who feel this way do so in their teenage years or in adulthood.

So how do parents know if they should let their son carry a girls’ lunchbox or let their daughter wear boys’ clothes? Experts advise that you take the lead from your child. Let your child be who he or she is, and get help if you or your child needs it.

Some young people and even adults may have mixed feelings about their physical gender. They often find it useful to talk with a counselor before or after taking steps to become who they feel they truly are.

If gender dysphoria continues past puberty, studies show that the young person will likely continue to feel that way. For people who feel long-term that their body does not match their internal sense of gender, it is not a choice. It is a burden they didn't choose, and they need professional and social support.

With this said, it is beyond my education to bring an intellectual discussion to this forum. I have my morals in the back of my mind, and I will keep them to myself.

I think as a military service member you need to pick one, male or female, not both, and not an IT. There is no room for confusion or mental disorders. Once that is sorted out, I think it best that the service member request to be removed from service, on failure to adapt or whatever. I will hold back all other opinions.

WHEN, not IF, men and women choose to identify as a service member, PERIOD, is when I will happily accept whomever volunteers. Identifying as an "L or G or B or T service member" is just a grand-standing, sociopolitical statement. In those cases, they are there for the wrong reason.

BOOOOOO. I say boo to this whole question being floated again but here is the actual answer, here it is:

We will see open transgender military service when we are so riddled by political incorrectness and Progressive lies that we ignore all medical standards and place the very lives of our soldiers and citizens at risk for the feeling of fringe minority.

I don't believe it is a tolerance issue. It's a privacy right issue for those who are not. For once, the majority might be the ones thought of here.

It would be a logistical nightmare. Will women care if a man who wants to be a woman share their locker room? Maybe, maybe not. But, who decides? That's merely one small aspect.

Will the woman who was born a man going to get the same APFT standards as the women? Higher PT scores are a promotional advantage over your peers. Regardless of genitalia, men are born and built differently. That's why the standards are different. What about the man born a woman? Will "she" have to adhere to the harder physical standards? Is she going to be allowed to take testosterone treatments? Is that fair to the rest of us?

If it is about equality, it better be about that and that alone. No asterisk standards.

What about the Service Members who will sickly take advantage of situation. How do you mitigate the perverts who "decide" to change their sexual identity for the wrong reasons?

It's a can of worms that might not be best suited open during a time of a decreasing military forces strength. I understand the arguments in both directions. I'm just not sure if the tolerance is worth it at this point.

I spent too many years as a senior NCO and haven't developed the ability to argue the laws of the land, instead of ensuring that they were complied with. Among many others, my friend SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL and I had careers that followed this entire issue. In a 20 year (longer for Joe) span the DoD regulations have run a complete 180.* Times change. We need to try and keep up.