Where people urinate literally has become a national obsession. News-conscious people are well aware of the public turmoil generated by Congresswoman Nancy Mace. In what appears to be an attention-seeking gimmick, Mace posted many tweets proclaiming that Sarah McBride, the first transgender woman to be elected to Congress, could not use the women’s restroom. Mace went so far as to introduce a formal bill on Monday, 18 November, that prohibited any transgender person from using a Capitol restroom not consistent with their assigned gender at birth. By Wednesday, 20 November, timorous Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, announced that ban was in effect. Who says Congress can’t get important sh*t done when it needs to. Following Trump’s directions, it is obvious that for this session, proper restroom etiquette is far more important than the U.S. border and immigration issues. What makes that action so significant is that the 118th Congress (the one currently in session) is considered to be the least productive in history.
Notably, this concern about where people pee extends into SCOTUS. In 2019 while hearing a case related to gay and transgender rights, the justices seemed fixated on bathrooms. At the time they decided to punt and kick the can down the road. There seem to be no limits on concerns about peeing correctly and MAGA has picked up that issue as it resonates with their base.
From a personal perspective, this conundrum has a rather old, but familiar ring. In 1975 I was a major assigned as the Race Relations and Equal Opportunity Officer for the 25th Infantry Division, at Schofield Barracks, on Oahu, Hawaii. Emerging from the Vietnam War, race relations were quite tense, and we were dealing with contentious issues. The commanding general for whom I worked was Maj. Gen. Harry W. Brooks. I believe he was only the second Black general to command an Infantry Division. As a colonel attending the U.S. Army War College, he had co-authored a paper that detailed the race-relations issues that largely evolved from a disproportionate number of Black soldiers that were serving in the war. Simple statistics showed that minority officers were significantly underrepresented at senior ranks, when compared to the number who were serving and dying.
In response to that paper, as a colonel and then brigadier general, Brooks was assigned to the Pentagon to attempt to fix the problems. One response was the creation of the Defense Race Relations Institute (DRRI) (Now called Defense Equal Opportunity Management institute) at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida. Leaving my command assignment, I became a graduate of the DRRI. So here I was, a junior white major assigned to work on race-relations problems for the guy who literally had created the Army’s response. It was about to get a lot more complicated.
Before I have to deal with any of the DEI crap (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) from Trump supporters, I’ll go on record noting just how efficient Maj. Gen. Brooks was. There were weekly staff meetings we all attended. A bit of a micromanager, the staff principals all presented a series of charts that contained hundreds, if not thousands of numbers. Brooks could remember those figures from one week to the next and would call out changes he noticed and the briefer failed to mention. He was clearly superbly qualified.
But to the complexity issues I mentioned. It was at this time the Army decided to integrate the Combat Arms units allowing females to serve in many support roles. At that time, women were not allowed assignments in specific Combat Arms positions (infantry, armor, artillery etc.). But this new order meant that the pre-WWII era quadrangle barracks were going to have to accommodate female soldiers. At the same time, I was having discussions with Maj. Gen. Brooks who was not fully on board with the decision. He was very attuned to the sensitivity of racial issues that erupted in the Division. However, it eluded his understanding that the problems regarding integration of females into his division were in many ways similar.
This is where realities collide, albeit 50 years later. As “equal opportunity” was part of my job, much of the integration planning fell on me. Here, the number one question from the senior (brigade-level) commanders was exactly, “Where are they going to pee?”
To be clear, there was no question about competency or work-related performance; it always came back to where they would pee. That was more contentious than bigger logistical problems like separate showers and sleeping accommodations.
For military historians, at that juncture the order was just to allow women to be assigned to a combat arms division, not to be assigned in those jobs. There were many far more inclusive changes to come. In the Army there are now over a hundred female Rangers and Special Forces; an accomplishment never even contemplated at that time. The Air Force has many fully qualified female fighter pilots. In 1993 LT (later Maj. Gen.) Jeanie Leavitt was the first and later the commander of the 4th Fighter Wing. While previously restricted from duty on many ships, since 2011 the Navy has allowed females on submarines. For decades the Navy has had female carrier fighter pilots. At each step of the way, there was resistance from many senior officers and the question arose, “Where will they pee?”
Women’s rights issues, both in the civilian sector and the military, have been a long and hard-fought battle for decades. They have met resistance at every turn. And yet, women have been able to persevere. It was1920 that the 19th Amendment was ratified, giving women the right to vote. Remember, it was not until October 1974, with passage of the Consumer Credit Protection Act, that women were granted the right to get their own credit cards.
More to the problems related to the military, in recent combat operations we have learned that there are situations in which having female servicemembers is essential. Most modern engagements have demonstrated that the notion of conventional warfare with clearly delineated lines of contact no longer apply. No matter where one is located in the battlespace, they are subject to direct physical combat. That was graphically demonstrated on 23 March 2003, when the convoy with PFC Jessica Lynch was ambushed in Iraq. PFC Lynch was a member of the 507th Maintenance Battalion at the time she was wounded and taken as a prisoner of war (POW). Her rescue by special operations forces made headlines, but clearly proved that anyone in the military can become a casualty. She has harsh words for Hegseth.
The Department of Defense has demonstrated that mixed gender units can be accommodated. Congress could ask for advice, but they know the issue was purely manufactured to create an emotional response from their emotionally agitated constituents.
With Trump’s election, things are about to get worse again. For Secretary of Defense, Trump announced he would nominate a fellow accused rapist, Pete Hegseth. Hegseth is on record stating that women should not be involved in combat operations. His misogynistic reputation is so bad that even his mother, Penelope Hegseth, chastised him for his mistreatment of women. Yes, she then recanted, but her comments do comport with his established pattern of behavior.
Late in the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump and the GOP introduced fear of transgender people as a tactic. The issues had been circulating for some time, but rarely rose to national significance. True to form, Trump and the Republicans, found a small, weak victim that was vulnerable to attack and proceeded to unjustly turn public sentiment against them. In the past few decades, the LGB community has grown in numbers, and strength. In America, the younger generations have become far more tolerant of gender identification issues. However, cutting off a lesser known subsegment, transgender people, provided them a sacrificial lamb. Provoking hate and anger against a weak adversary is frequently a winning strategy.
As I was drafting this, new actions were announced that impact the transgender community. That is Trump indicated that ALL transgender servicemembers would be removed from the military. Reports indicate there are about 15,000 of them. As a dinosaur, frankly, I did not realize there were so many transgender people currently serving. This comes at a time when the services are having difficulty meeting recruitment quotas and will have unintended consequences.
Given the recent actions of the Republicans, it would be wise for any young woman considering joining the military to think very carefully before joining. The Dobbs decision took away certain reproductive rights for millions of women in America. Many observers believe the GOP goal is to ban abortion for the entire country, and with no exceptions. They have proven they lie about these issues. Trump especially cannot be trusted. While the military continues to support women’s reproductive health care under the Biden Administration, there is no guarantee those policies will remain in effect under Trump or Vance. There is a high probability they will not.
Similarly, the jobs that may now be available to women can be taken away with a stroke of a pen. As the SECDEF-nominee, Hegseth, has already stated, he does not think women have a role in combat operations. Those positions too are likely to evaporate in short order. Hegseth is not alone in his thinking. Remember, recruiters are under extreme pressure to fill slots, and their promises are not binding on the services. What is true today may not be true tomorrow. It took decades for women to gain access to the club. Many readers may not know the current Chief of Naval Operation (CNO), ADM Lisa Franchetti, is a woman. Hegseth, et al, appear to believe those were DEI promotions and at the expense of military capability. He seems unaware that among ADM Franchetti’s prior assignments was Commander of the U.S. Sixth Fleet, as well as Commander of Carrier Strike Group 9 and Carrier Strike Group 15. He should also note that GEN Ann Dunwoody, the first U.S. Army four star general, and had been assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division during Desert Storm.
For Hegseth’s information, women have served in combat for a very long time. Going back to the Revolutionary War, he should learn about Molly Pitcher who fought at the Battle of Monmouth in 1778. My personal experience with women in combat came from engaging the Viet Cong (VC) in the Seven Mountains area of the Mekong Delta near the Cambodian border. While gender-segregated, quickly we learned that female VC units would stand and fight while their male units usually would break and run when faced with our air support. You can’t tell me that women can’t fight effectively. Women are now integrated into many military forces around the world.
For several decades women have proven their warfighting and command capabilities. Despite that, there has always been resistance to their advancements. Though openly misogynistic and transphobic, the next Trump administration was voted into office with the help of many women. I wonder how many of them have the slightest understanding of what it took to get women into the positions they now hold. Further, the nomination of Pete Hegseth as SECDEF threatens all of those hard-won advances and in the end, our national security. Raising the transphobic restroom issue demonstrates they are more interested in generating public fear than solving problems. As usual, Trump and his MAGA band, chose to pick on the near-defenseless and shamelessly proclaim victory. The question still reverberates, “Where are they going to pee?”
Thanks to the emotionally excitable and ill-informed voters, such is the state of America today.
