Posted on Feb 6, 2019
Local LGBTQ advocate discusses problems with the recent transgender military ban
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The U.S. is an embodiment of liberty and equality. It’s a shining beacon of hope across the globe. However, as our issues grow increasingly more apparent and ugly, our light has dimmed. The U.S. Supreme Court disappointed the country and set an intolerable precedent when it granted the Trump administration’s request to temporarily ban most transgender people from serving in the military on Jan. 22.
This decision and the majority of the Trump administration’s decisions fuel the fire of evil in this country and signal for the racists, homophobes, sexists and white supremacists to step out of the shadows. We have just begun the second month of 2019, but this outright transgender discrimination throws our country back a century in terms of LGBTQ rights.
We all know that awful people run rampant across this “land of the free.” I was still appalled and enraged when this Supreme Court decision was released. It’s always shocking when the officials you idolize turn out to be morally questionable people.
Banning transgender people from the military, even temporarily, is outright discrimination. Targeting these people reinforces negative stigmas toward the LGBTQ community on a nationwide scale. The LGBTQ community is widely misunderstood and this discrimination by the Supreme Court casts it in a negative light. Perpetuating these hateful ideas is an egregious mistake.
I spoke with Joe Antonelli about this Supreme Court decision to gain some perspective. Antonelli is the founding president of the Gainesville Community Alliance, a social group founded in 1991 for the LGBTQ community of Gainesville. Antonelli has engaged in the battle for LGBTQ rights for nearly 60 years. He offered me a wealth of knowledge and shared many of his first-hand experiences from his lifelong battle for LGBTQ rights.
The Supreme Court’s decision to grant the Trump administration’s temporary transgender military ban astounded and infuriated Antonelli. This blow to transgender rights did not dampen his spirits, though.
“[LGBTQ rights] is a social movement, it is going in the right direction. There have been gay people in the military forever, they just weren’t out. To say [transgender] people can’t serve is ridiculous. It’s a waiting game, I don’t think it’s going to affect us greatly,” Antonelli said.
Antonelli hopes that the lower courts will prevent this temporary decision from becoming final. He believes we need laws to protect all types of people from this kind of discrimination and he has faith that our great country will continue to grow and improve.
“We as a country have to open our arms and let liberty do her thing,” Antonelli said.
I agree that our country overall is moving the right way. The current administration, however, continues to take steps backward. I constantly question how we made such a 180-degree turn from our optimistic, progressive and forward-thinking former president to the current homophobic and racist con man that holds the reins today. How in the span of a few years have we switched from legalizing gay marriage to banning most transgender people from serving our country?
It comes down to the time-old issues of pride and fear. People want their ideas, their party, their race, their sex and their agendas to win. It’s time to get over ourselves and admit that the way people thought, spoke and lived in the past was wrong. We are entering a new era of freedom for all people, no matter their gender, race, sexual orientation or preferred pronouns. People need to swallow their pride and understand that hateful speech and actions are intolerable in today’s world. After the Supreme Court’s decision, it seems our justices can lead the way by admitting they were wrong.
This decision and the majority of the Trump administration’s decisions fuel the fire of evil in this country and signal for the racists, homophobes, sexists and white supremacists to step out of the shadows. We have just begun the second month of 2019, but this outright transgender discrimination throws our country back a century in terms of LGBTQ rights.
We all know that awful people run rampant across this “land of the free.” I was still appalled and enraged when this Supreme Court decision was released. It’s always shocking when the officials you idolize turn out to be morally questionable people.
Banning transgender people from the military, even temporarily, is outright discrimination. Targeting these people reinforces negative stigmas toward the LGBTQ community on a nationwide scale. The LGBTQ community is widely misunderstood and this discrimination by the Supreme Court casts it in a negative light. Perpetuating these hateful ideas is an egregious mistake.
I spoke with Joe Antonelli about this Supreme Court decision to gain some perspective. Antonelli is the founding president of the Gainesville Community Alliance, a social group founded in 1991 for the LGBTQ community of Gainesville. Antonelli has engaged in the battle for LGBTQ rights for nearly 60 years. He offered me a wealth of knowledge and shared many of his first-hand experiences from his lifelong battle for LGBTQ rights.
The Supreme Court’s decision to grant the Trump administration’s temporary transgender military ban astounded and infuriated Antonelli. This blow to transgender rights did not dampen his spirits, though.
“[LGBTQ rights] is a social movement, it is going in the right direction. There have been gay people in the military forever, they just weren’t out. To say [transgender] people can’t serve is ridiculous. It’s a waiting game, I don’t think it’s going to affect us greatly,” Antonelli said.
Antonelli hopes that the lower courts will prevent this temporary decision from becoming final. He believes we need laws to protect all types of people from this kind of discrimination and he has faith that our great country will continue to grow and improve.
“We as a country have to open our arms and let liberty do her thing,” Antonelli said.
I agree that our country overall is moving the right way. The current administration, however, continues to take steps backward. I constantly question how we made such a 180-degree turn from our optimistic, progressive and forward-thinking former president to the current homophobic and racist con man that holds the reins today. How in the span of a few years have we switched from legalizing gay marriage to banning most transgender people from serving our country?
It comes down to the time-old issues of pride and fear. People want their ideas, their party, their race, their sex and their agendas to win. It’s time to get over ourselves and admit that the way people thought, spoke and lived in the past was wrong. We are entering a new era of freedom for all people, no matter their gender, race, sexual orientation or preferred pronouns. People need to swallow their pride and understand that hateful speech and actions are intolerable in today’s world. After the Supreme Court’s decision, it seems our justices can lead the way by admitting they were wrong.
Local LGBTQ advocate discusses problems with the recent transgender military ban
Posted from alligator.org
LGBTQ+
Transgender
Supreme Court
Posted 6 y ago
Responses: 3
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The idea that we should or shouldn't be letting trans people serve for whatever reasons is irrelevant. They are currently serving, and despite how you feel about that, it's not going to change. They've been in the US Armed Forces since the inception of the nation, that's a historical fact.
Maybe you can target the 1,000 or so that are currently out and transitioning, but not the ones still in the closet. Those people will have to spend years in hostile environments looking over their own shoulders and worrying about whether or not anyone knows the truth. The harder you make it for the 10% that are out, the harder it will be for the 90% who aren't and whom you can't directly target.
Why not let them serve then? If you can't kick them out, and if they're going to be there regardless, at least make it easier for them. All of you keep going on and on about how the military is going to implode if we do, but the same thing was said before we ended segregation in the 50s, and it didn't. The same thing was said when we let females enlist as infantry, but it didn't. Everyone from the Marine Commandant to the American Legion said the same thing when we started letting gays serve openly a *decade* ago, but guess what?
Nobody cared.
In the *three years* we've allowed trans people to serve in our military openly, there have been a sum total of ZERO ISSUES. In the 30 years our NATO allies have allowed it, there have been ZERO ISSUES. This "ban", is a solution searching for a problem that doesn't exist.
Maybe you can target the 1,000 or so that are currently out and transitioning, but not the ones still in the closet. Those people will have to spend years in hostile environments looking over their own shoulders and worrying about whether or not anyone knows the truth. The harder you make it for the 10% that are out, the harder it will be for the 90% who aren't and whom you can't directly target.
Why not let them serve then? If you can't kick them out, and if they're going to be there regardless, at least make it easier for them. All of you keep going on and on about how the military is going to implode if we do, but the same thing was said before we ended segregation in the 50s, and it didn't. The same thing was said when we let females enlist as infantry, but it didn't. Everyone from the Marine Commandant to the American Legion said the same thing when we started letting gays serve openly a *decade* ago, but guess what?
Nobody cared.
In the *three years* we've allowed trans people to serve in our military openly, there have been a sum total of ZERO ISSUES. In the 30 years our NATO allies have allowed it, there have been ZERO ISSUES. This "ban", is a solution searching for a problem that doesn't exist.
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"Fuel the fire of evil..." Are you serious? This isn't discrimination. This is making sure the military doesn't lose its strength because of what liberal social media thinks. Read what's below and tell me honestly that we should let trans people in just willy-nilly. This matter deserves to be looked into. The military struggles enough as it is to combat suicide among veterans. Why would they recruit any one group of people that has a higher probability of it from the get go?
From Psychology Today:
Individuals who identify as transgender tend to experience higher rates of mental health issues than the general population. While approximately 6.7 percent of the general United States population suffers from depression and 18 percent grapple with some iteration of an anxiety disorder, nearly half of all individuals who identify as transgender experience these issues. What's more, over 41 percent of trans men and women are estimated to have attempted suicide — a rate that's nearly nine times as high as the rate of cisgender Americans.
From Psychology Today:
Individuals who identify as transgender tend to experience higher rates of mental health issues than the general population. While approximately 6.7 percent of the general United States population suffers from depression and 18 percent grapple with some iteration of an anxiety disorder, nearly half of all individuals who identify as transgender experience these issues. What's more, over 41 percent of trans men and women are estimated to have attempted suicide — a rate that's nearly nine times as high as the rate of cisgender Americans.
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MAJ (Join to see)
MSgt Michael Smith - Yes, you do. Please show me the evidence that says all combat vets should be discharged from service.
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MAJ (Join to see)
SSgt Addison R. - That's a good point. If we had accurate numbers of trans service members currently serving I think that would be very beneficial.
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MAJ (Join to see)
SSgt Addison R. - Makes sense. It's a tricky situation for sure. And with our government (and society to some degree) seemingly split into two opposite sides, things like this are likely not going to be settled quickly. But that's a whole other can of worms.
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MAJ (Join to see)
SSgt Addison R. I'm with you. If you and I served together I'd die for you and believe you'd die for me. That's what I want from all my troops. Politics, religion, sexual orientation, etc. are important topics but they don't belong on the battlefield. I want people who add to the combat power of my company. If a person can do that, I've got a place for you.
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Membership within our military have never been about equality. Please provide evidence, in history, where the military accepts all equally.
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MAJ (Join to see)
SSgt Addison R. - American Psychology Association. "Transgender and gender-variant people have a variety of concerns for which they may seek the assistance of psychologists. In addition to the usual problems that may bring any individual to therapy, transgender and gender-variant people often seek professional help in understanding their gender identities and patterns of gender expression and in addressing the complex social and relational issues that are affected by these."
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MAJ (Join to see)
SSgt Addison R. - NPR. "Experiencing the world as a different gender than the one assigned to you at birth can take a toll. Nearly all research into transgender individuals' mental health shows poorer outcomes. A study looking specifically at transgender women, predominantly women of color, only further confirms that reality."
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MAJ (Join to see)
SSgt Addison R. - I agree that people should be treated as individuals. I think that will be an issue with the military as it always is. The military typically makes broad strokes with this sort of stuff. Just like with drug use. They'll come out and say that no one with prior drug use can join and by doing that they cut out the kid who smoked weed one time and regretted it as well as the habitual user.
I want to be clear that I'm not against serving side by side with a trans soldier. But the issues that could arise need to be addressed. Because guys like me want their companies to be as strong as possible. If the data I'm seeing is bad data (and it very well could be) we need new data.
I want to be clear that I'm not against serving side by side with a trans soldier. But the issues that could arise need to be addressed. Because guys like me want their companies to be as strong as possible. If the data I'm seeing is bad data (and it very well could be) we need new data.
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MAJ (Join to see)
SSgt Addison R. - I agree. Generalizing people isn't fair. I also know that there are other motives for people to support this ban besides whether these guys and gals are fit for duty or not. That's not fair either.
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