Even with the end of DADT Transgender Soldiers are Still Being Discharged

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday September 30, 2011 · 9:04 PM PDT

2011/09/30 · 21:04

I'm glad that Lesbian and Gay soldiers at least have the right to serve openly but Transgender soldiers are still being dismissed for no other reason than unfounded animus. Will we take twenty or thirty more years to figure out Transgender soldiers are able to do their jobs? Not like there is not precedent for Transgender soldiers:

Right now, eight U.S. allies including the Czech Republic, Great Britain, Israel, New Zealand, Norway, and Spain allow trans people to serve. But the trans rights movement will have to begin publicizing Grant’s and other trans discharge stories and mobilize public demonstrations in order to get movement on this issue.

But this woman is just out of luck because she was born in the U.S. in the 20th century.

The American Psychiatric Association insists that their inclusion of Gender Identity Disorder is not to be interpreted as a disabling disorder and we can live full lives even though we experience it. The military and assorted homophobes/Transphobes use that as justification for discrimination.

Two weeks before the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” Staff Sergeant Rebecca Grant got booted from the Army National Guard because a fellow soldier outed her as transgender. Despite the recent DADT repeal, the military still considers trans people as having “gender identity disorder” and being “administratively unfit to serve”; which is why they’re quite happy to discharge Sergeant Grant despite her over ten years of service and duty overseas in Bosnia and Iraq. Welcome to the new frontier in the military battle for equality.

Even here on Daily Kos we get those that support The L, the G, and the B but draw the line at finding the T to be acceptable.

Louisville Fairness Campaign Director Chris Hartman says the issue is about equal protection under the law, but he admits gender identity protections will be difficult for many to accept because the transgender community faces stigma in the larger gay rights movement.

We will need your advocacy.

Why you ask?

Because soon you will see a rash of discharges for not conforming to gender norms=Transgender soldiers.

We are all in this together.

“It’s going to take straight, gay, lesbian and bisexual advocates to lead the charge for transgender folks to have the same and equal rights that gay, lesbian and bisexual people have,” he says. “Stories like Ms. Grant’s oftentimes get shoved under the rug because the larger gay, lesbian and bisexual community sometimes feels they have to take an incremental approach. It hasn’t been that way in Louisville, we’ve never taken that approach. The movement in Louisville has always said fairness is fairness for all.”

Unfit to serve but not for the first ten years?

According to Army regulations, transgender people are administratively unfit to serve and Grant was discharged for “gender identity disorder,” despite being a decorated soldier with numerous honors.

No one is free until we all are free.

This content was created by a Daily Kos Community member.

Make YOUR voice heard!

Comments are closed on this story.