On June 30, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced on behalf of the Pentagon that the ban on transgender people openly serving their country is no more. Defense Secretary Ash Carter had been studying this issue for almost a year. The military has currently witnessed a good amount of changes in the role of diverse groups in recent years. While Republican leaders are not too happy about the announcement, many others seem to be happy about it.
A few details about the lifting of the ban particularly stood out to me. If you are "stable" with your gender identity for 18 months prior to joining the military, these new opportunities could change your life. Transgender people can now receive medical coverage, which could include hormone therapy and gender reassignment surgeries — if the doctor says it's necessary.
So transgender people can now receive help with transitioning in exchange for their services to the military? If you ask me, that is a step in the right direction for LGBT rights in America. Many LGBT individuals struggle financially after "coming out," and now our transgender friends can receive support from the U.S. military in those hard times.
I can see why many Republicans are upset with this news, but I am proud of my transgender friends in the LGBT community. This is groundbreaking for our movement and our country, especially after the tragedy that occurred in Orlando recently.
One U.S. Army Reserve officer that transitioned in 2012 had thoughts about the ban, saying, "This is about equality, about civil rights...about recognizing the decency of human beings, that we are all equal and that gender is not a barrier to service." Capt. Sage Fox was also quoted saying, "It's going to go through and send a message to the rest of the world that the U.S. isn't behind everyone, that we do care about human rights, that we do care about equality, and we aren't just going to talk about it, we are actually going to do it," when it came to how other countries might react to this news.
Will this truly end up being a beneficial outcome for the U.S. military and the transgender people of America? Only time will tell with this one, but it sure does look like the two groups have a lot of positive support behind this announcement.
