Hagel: Pentagon should review transgender ban
TSO sends a link from the Associated Press which reports that Secretary of Defense Hagel is pivoting from the war against terrorism to social issues. I guess he figures that we should forget about the war that our military is fighting outside our borders to reexamine the policy in regards to allowing trans-sexuals to serve in the military;
Hagel did not indicate whether he believes the policy should be overturned. However, Hagel says every qualified American who wants to serve the country should have that opportunity if they fit the qualifications and can do the job.
[…]
A panel convened by a think tank at San Francisco State University recently estimated that about 15,450 transgender personnel serve in the military and in the National Guard and Reserves.
It’s almost as if Hagel wants us to forget that this administration has been a complete failure in the war against our nation’s enemies by throwing these red herrings around. I wonder how they came up with that 15,000 number. And if there are 15,000 transgendered people currently serving in the military, why is there a problem that requires a study?
Category: Big Army
This administration is out of fucking control.
Sorry, but here is where the line needs to be drawn. I have nothing against Transgender people, but they do not belong in the military. Nor should the military knowingly allow them to enlist…
We do not and should not allow anyone with any major psychological disorder to enlist, and that is exactly what Transgender is. It is a disorder that comes with a massive psychological and physiological price tag, as well as a dollar price tag.
Not just no, but fuck no… again, this is beyond just deciding you like the same sex, it is wanting to fundamentally change your gender, and anyone who thinks that this is some minor thing you are seriously uneducated on the subject.
Predictable. The follow-on effort: making it mandatory for DoD to fund “gender reassignment therapy” for those who are deemed to require it.
This study has the Bradley Manning Seal of Approval.
I Couldn’t agree more, Hondo. This is going to turn into a social program for TG TS TV or LMNOP or whatever to get they surgery they want. Join up, Get cut then claim “Harassment” And get out of your contract.
Wait. I thought this would be one of those ‘if it doesn’t infringe on me’ items, like illicit drug use.
Using my tax dollars to turn the military in a social experiment does infringe on me.
Laws and regs apply to taxpayers and nontaxpaters alike: Personal impact of of tax-based expenditures are irrelevant. Also, taxpayer status (I pay taxes! So what? That entitles me to no additional vote or say-so in any governmental matter.)is neither here nor there when it comes to how taxpayer funds are spent. But if you want to go down that road, the cost of taxpayer-supported drug rehab programs and the cost of law enforcement, prosecution, and corrections costs for drug-related crime (e.g., robbery, burglary, theft, prosecution)is tremendous. Of course, this omits any direct drug crime such as sale, purchase, or possession. It seems to me that your leave-me-alone–if-I’m-not-hurting- anyone approach to drugs fits much better with this trasgender matter than with the drugs.
Some good points Cav. To be honest I don’t support taxpayer money being spent on drug rehab either. Just like I don’t support universal healthcare. Or bying someone else birth control. Please don’t think just because I have a different opinion than you on that topic (which is on another page) that I think for one second I have all the answers. I don’t. What I do know is that I’m always wary of anytime the government makes laws that affect my personal decisions. I believe in my heart that the more you let any government dictate your choices the easier it is to turn more of your choices over to the “powers that be”.
Like I said earlier, just an opinion, I could be wrong.
No, I don’t think ill of you and it was bad form to dregde that drug matter up here, I suppose. You seem to be a reasonable person and, quite frankly, with limited exception, most everyone here, I’d guess, agrees with your basic proposition–that less gov’t means more freedom.
Thank you Cav. I realized that maybe me being new here, that the drug topic probably wasn’t the best to take a side on. For the record I’m sure I agree with 90% of what people say on here. I’m a former Marine, I think that crimes that hurt people should be punished harshly (if it was up to me every violent crime would be punished with Sheriff Joe’s tent city at the least) I’m for less taxes, less government involvement in my life. Mainly, I just want to be left alone to find my own way. Mistakes and all. As far as drugs go, hell, Prohibition doesn’t work. I see the DEA as a jobs program for cops that want to trot around with military surplus gear pretending to be hard asses. Of course the Marines was a jobs program for me to learn to stop being a slacker. LOL
Wow.
Are there not anymore important things going on in the world?
Yes.
No.
Maybe
What’s this going to do other than attract prospective “Joes” that want to join thinking they can become “Janes” and vice versa at taxpayers’ expense? B. Hussein 0bama & Company are continuing to do all they can to degrade the US Military, I just wish I already had my twenty!!
Huh. There’s something I recall about, “the mission comes first.” Yes, I distinctly remember reading that somewhere.
Oh, it still is. The definition of the word mission has changed.
I guess the mission now is to make all of the LuGBuTs feel good about themselves?
None of these weirdos will ever see the “mission” they’re not in the military to serve anyone but themselves. To those who will actually serve the mission it will still come first as it always has.
Those who actually serve the mission will also be the first ones to get hosed by the military and the nation they served to take care of the needs of the freak show that has become the non-performing no go stations of the military.
Nothing says good order and discipline like your first sergeant in drag out in the field injecting hormones to grow tits, but flippin’ It’s shit over a tattoo and how you can’t wear a white t-shirt on liberty because of “image”.
Thanks, Obama.
/dies a little more inside
How much longer do we have to put up with this horrid administration? They are slowly turning the military from a fighting force to a department for social experimentation and leftist ideology. God help us in the next war.
I’m a transracial, transgendered, pansexual, spiritually-Navajo, otherkin, transabled, and transphasic third-sex being. I indentify as a Southern small-toothed moss-mouse from the slopes of mount Bosavi in Papua New Guinea on Thursdays, and as a stack of flapjacks on Tuesdays. The rest of the week I identify as a low energy plasma.
This administration should demand that I am allowed to serve in the military and solve all of my problems, regardless of how that effects unit integrity and cohesiveness, mission capability, or good order and discipline.
On a serious note, where does the line eventually get drawn? Such a slippery slope.
You are fine as long as you support the “Don’t nuke the unborn gay Nigerian girl whales for globally warmed Hari Krishnas” group (or use the hashtag #DNTUGNGWFGWHK with the appropriate frequency) and not any of the following
– conservative
– white
– christian
– reader of the constitution
– working
– business owner
Make service mandatory, women need to register for Selective Service or create tax breaks for current/former servicemembers.
Watch what happens.
I agree with GT.
How times change. Back in mid 60s Christine Jorgensen was making the rounds of the clubs in Germany. Those of us in the 3AD missed out because the CG (Spivy? Kerwin?) banned her from appearing in the division clubs. If it hadn’t been foe Overseas Weekly I never would have know what all the fuss was about. For the uninitiated, she had been a he and had even been a soldier. Could have been worse, he could have banned someone like Jim Reeves. Oh, wait, he did that, too.
Damn, I don’t remember anyone mentioning the “Oversexed Weekly” here in, well, ever. Talk about yer “blast from the past”!
Hagel says every qualified American who wants to serve the country should have that opportunity if they fit the qualifications and can do the job.
This from a man who is unfit to hold his office and unqualified as an American to simply do his job. That being the care and welfare of our nation’s military and its personnel.
Hey Quagmire’s dad served honorably, why shouldn’t all the other freak and geeks be allowed in?
Hopefully one of the first acts of the next President will be to appoint GEN Mattis as either Chairman of the Joint Chiefs or SecDef. Wouldn’t that be a joy to see……
Who’s the phony Navy SEAL in the picture?
My God, we have perverts, clowns and political hacks running our country and military.
I didn’t join, sacrifice and fight to support this shit.
When is enough, enough?
Is that a trident on the flight suit?
Transgender sailors, like HIV+ sailors, are non-deployable and cannot serve in a sea billet. They must be attached to a CONUS shore billet that can manage their care.
An HIV+ sailor costs about $100K/year; a transgender can cost 3X that amount, if in the “transition” phase. Maintenance phase is in the neighborhood of $100K/year, until something goes wrong.
So know this; for every HIV+ sailor and every transgender sailor, someone else is doing their sea duty and/or operational tour. They are also excluded from PRP programs (for now) and cannot obtain a TS clearance (watch for that to change).
Pre-operative transgender sailors are, WITHOUT EXCEPTION, discharged at retirement or release at 100% disability. The VA is very quietly, through a number of programs, paying for gender reassignment and maintenance.
Yeah, Charles Lane, swallow that load.
Not sure where you’re getting that information on transgender and the VA. See here: http://tavausa.org/faq/#will-the-va-health-system-pay-for-my-sex-reassignmentgender-reassignmentgender-confirmation-surgery-srsgrsgcs
If Hagel’s standard is “every qualified American who wants to serve the country should have that opportunity if they fit the qualifications and can do the job,” then there is no need to bar pedophiles from service. After all, there are no children in service to tempt them. And those who engage in bestiality should be welcome, too–although they should not be permitted in a K-9 unit. And most jobs don’t require any extraordinary physical demands so fatties and uncoordinated pansies should be welcome. There really is no end to the list. As for the 15,000 number, it came from San Francisco and that alone is reason to disregard it. A few researchers probably checked some gay bars (are there straight bars in Frisco?) and extrapolated the survey results.
well, as long as you are allowing bestiality you should allow ‘furries’ – people who think they are actual critters, but are trapped in the bodies of humans.
I wish I was kidding, but I was informed (in my ignorance) that such exist and are ‘coming out’.
plus having a San Francisco institution counting weirdos is akin to having a Democrat counting potential voters. They see what they want to.
For starters, from the same article you posted: ” Psychological and/or hormone therapy treatment of individual pre-op transsexual veterans is provided quietly at certain other locations. Post-op treatment in the new sex is not a problem, in general. Changing the sex marker in the VA national database and in the local health care facility is straightforward and without controversy. Once recognized in the database as female, for example, there is no gender-related reason to refuse such services as hormone replacement therapy, mammograms, and pelvic exams.
However, that information is somewhat out of date. The VA has firmed up its policy to provide virtually all transgender services, with the exception of the surgery, so it’s not done quietly. It’s done as a matter of policy. VHA DIRECTIVE 2013-003 lays out the specifics of what gets paid for (pre-op drugs, mental health counseling, post-op care and maintenance drugs). The VA counselors work with civilian hospitals and providers who perform gender reassignment surgeries and will coordinate post-op care plans with them.
Transgenders have an attempted suicide rate of 41% and a success rate of 30% (no demographic group is higher). Perfect candidates for a low-stress environment like the military.
30% success rate? Jebeebus. Want are they doing, trying to OD on mentos or attempting to beat themselves to death? That’s a 70% fail rate.
“every qualified American who wants to serve the country should have that opportunity if they fit the qualifications and can do the job,”.
Key words being “qualified”. Not picking just on transgenders, but there are many other folks out there who are not “qualified” to be in the military. Tough shit. Don’t change the qualifications just to make certain “voters” happy. Gee, poor little Johnny is too short to throw the ball in the hoop – let’s lower the goal. NO. Quit changing the damn rules just because someone feels discriminated against.
While the “progressives” on the left try and paint this as a simple issue, it is far from it.
TS/TG comes with a huge additional dose of the likelihood of some other forms of Mental Disorders. In a study posted on the national Institutes of health, it was found that overall LBGT subjects that 98% of them had some form of Mental Disorder. Bi-polar, borderline personality Disorder, OCD, Shico Affective disorder, etc…
That is what Hagel should be looking at! he wants to save money, but he wants to allow in people who have an almost 100% shot at being metally ill to one degree or another?
Hell the suicide and attempted suicide rates for that population are incredible! yet he wants to bring them on into one of the most stressful jobs in the world??
Stupid as fuck.
I’ll have one each of what nbcguy54 and rb325th are having. Thanks.