Don't get me wrong with this whole post. I don't want to turn anyone off on the first day. I absolutely love the fact that Don't Ask, Don't Tell is getting trashed. It was a stupid idea 18 years ago, and it's a stupid idea now. Some of the best Soldiers I've ever worked with were gay. Some even openly gay. For 90% of the Army, DADT only existed as a way to get rid of a shitty Soldier who just happened to be gay, but who couldn't technically be booted out on anything else. Most of the people I served with couldn't give a rat's ass. But it was still stupid because of the other small portion of the Army who would boot out a fantastic Soldier simply because of their orientation.
Here's my problem with the repeal: I can't come out. Neither can about 1100 of my Active Army brothers and sisters. And another 1200 in the Reserves and National Guard. Add 1800 for other active duty U.S. military forces, plus an additional 500 in other forces' reserve components. That's about 4600 queer Americans who get to keep on hiding when everyone else is free. "And why is this?" you may ask. Because we're not gay, and we're not lesbian, and we're not bisexual. We're that other part of LGBT. The part that everyone looks away from because it makes the fight for LGB just a little bit harder. We're fucking Trans. Transgendered transexual transvestite crossdressing genderqueer sissy androgynous members of the United States Military. And most of us are good at our jobs.
So, why are we in the military if we can't do it as ourselves? Well, there are a couple of reasons for it: quite a few Male-to-Female trans-folks wind up in the military because it's considered a very masculine occupation. We try so hard to not be who we are that we wind up in the most masculine positions out there. We become cops, construction workers, Soldiers, Marines, loggers. We're trying to turn ourselves into the men that society tells us we are. (Psst...it doesn't work.) Another reason some of us join is because it's a pretty good job with one of the best benefits packages out there. You know, full family coverage on the majority of health care, free dental and optometry, housing, free education benefits, etc. How can you say no to a deal like that? And then, of course, there are some of us who just want to serve. We love our country (no matter how fucking backwards it can be, sometimes), and we are willing to give up our lives, our families, and even our very identity to defend and serve our nation. Even though it would be easier to move to Canada where Trans in the military can get their transition expenses covered under their medical plan.
Part of the problem is the fact that Gender Identity Disorder (GID) is still listed in the current (fourth) edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). That means it's a psychiatric illness, rather than an inborn trait. I'm not allowed to come out because I'm classified with schizophrenics and paranoiacs. Apparently, since I'm not the biggest fan of having been born with a penis and testicles and an excess of body hair and testosterone, I'm into self-mutilation (because a safe and legal elective surgery is self-mutilation, you see). That's where the Army gets ya. Even crossdressers aren't safe because way too many people-in-charge are unaware that there's a difference. So we're all pretty much boned.
So here's what I'm doing. I'm claiming this decade for us. The Sixties had the black civil rights movement, the seventies had the Chicano Movement and gave rights to Native Americans, the eighties and nineties were about gender equality, and the aughts (or whatever you call the last decade) really got the ball rolling for gay rights. Now it's our turn.
We just have to figure out how....
