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One minute past the stroke of midnight on Sept. 20, the long-awaited repeal of President Bill Clinton’s 1993 “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy went into effect.
At precisely 12:01 a.m. EST, the popping of champagne corks began along with cheers and tears celebrating the end of a repressive era that prohibited LGBTQ servicemembers from honestly and openly serving in the military.
But the celebration was bittersweet.
While our lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) servicemembers now have a policy in place to protect them from discrimination, the repeal of DADT doesn’t protect our transgender servicemembers.
“While we are happy to see the end of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ we are troubled that the military still expels some members of our community simply because of who they are. Transgender people continue to serve our country honorably, and our country needs to do the same for transgender service members by reexamining this outdated ban,” Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, stated in a press release weeks before the DADT’s repeal.
One of the reasons for transphobia in the military is its rigid adherence to antiquated notions of masculinity, manhood, and gender roles. The military has a binary view of gender; and, unfortunately, with that perspective, transgender servicemembers are deemed medically and mentally unfit because of Gender Identity Disorder.
Along with the military’s binary view of gender, its transphobia is institutionally maintained through its medical and conduct regulations.
For example, the medical regulation for all enlistees is a physical examination. If an enlistee has had or is thinking about having genital surgery, that decision or outward expression of thought can easily become grounds for disqualification.
But that’s not the end of the military’s egregious display of transphobia. If an enlistee has not had genital surgery or isn’t thinking about genital surgery, but identities as transgender, that too is grounds for disqualification. The military deems the enlistee as having a mental health condition.
While it is easy to disclose the myriad of ways in which the military is egregiously transphobic, perhaps the same disclosure needs to be done to us — the LGBQ population and our organizations.
So the question that needs to be put on the table is this: Why, in another historical civil rights moment won ending discrimination for all in the LGBTQ community, is our transgender population left out once again?
Did we not learn our shameful lessons after the debacle of the 2007 Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) fallout?
During an entire campaign to win an inclusive ENDA, we didn’t. And what was expected to be an historic vote in the House on HR 2015 (the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA), the LGBTQ community got a version of ENDA that did not include gender identity.
Sadly, however, we have done it again with the repeal of DADT.
Our LGBQ civil rights organizations’ best efforts to explain how and/or why transgender Americans are, once again, excluded from this historical landmark decision, realizing this is not their endpoint on this issue, but rather it begins new trans-focused organizing strategies that will redouble their efforts to do more.
“Today we’re one step closer to full equality, but we’re not there yet. This victory only strengthens our resolve to continue our work toward open transgender military service. And with your help, the Task Force will continue to push for that inclusion,” Rea Carey, Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force stated in a press release. “We’re mobilizing grassroots efforts to help pass trans-inclusive nondiscrimination laws in cities across the nation; …The DADT repeal serves to remind us that, with a lot of hard work, we’re getting closer―but we can’t let up until we get there.”
Here in Boston, LGBTQ activists and our allies are not letting up.
At the steps of the State House, on the first evening of the repeal of DADT, demonstrators staged a protest to draw attention to the fact that transgender Americans are still unable to serve openly in the military.
“I’m out here supporting my trans and les (lesbian) homies who are still DL (on the down low) in the Army because I know what it feels like to be dissed at home, church, Army, and the gay community,” Jamilla Davis, an African American lesbian from Roxbury told me.
African American lesbians have been discharged at three times the rate at which they serve, and Davis knows this from first-hand experience.
To date, more than 13,500 LGBTQ servicemembers have been discharged under DADT. I would like to say that with the repeal of DADT the number of our servicemembers being discharged will stop. But it won’t. Our transgender servicemembers were not included.
10 Comments
Can’t Obama get anything done correctly??!!?? Gees!
It doesn’t help as long as the DSM says there is something wrong with us. The GREAT NEWS is that WPATH is releasing a new SOC that is a dramatic rewrite according to the Doctor that presented a preview at SCC and should have been released today at the WPATH Conference in Atlanta today. Transsexuals, transgender people and the miriad of gender non-conformity will be explained as nothing more than normal variance of gender. I urge everyone to go to the WPATH website tomorrow to read the new SOC. WPATH also realizes this new document ia an imperfect, living document and is asking for comments from the gender non-conforming community on how to improve the document.
Deanna
Here’s the WPATH website.
Direct link to SOC v7 : http://www.thisishow.org/Files/soc7.pdf
In this side-by-side comparison, 13 presidential candidates show their plans for DADT, equal pay for military personnel, DOMA, and related issues: http://www.marriageequality.org/Election2012
One of the most important things people have to realize is that the DSM does NOT need to be changed for us to serve openly. The DSM has to be changed, but open service does not need to be linked to that. Why? Eight of our allied countries have allowed open service for trans people, and since the entire world uses the DSM, then they ignored it. We should too.
At SCC, some people insisted that the DSM has to be changed first. That is because a few trans people were kicked out and that was the excuse that was used. It’s not the universal experience for other trans people. By us insisting that the DSM has to be changed first, we are trowing up our hands and already admitting defeat. We are creating our own road blocks. Those eight countries were not defeated. They just did it. We are our own worst enemy.
I have a saying I like using. “There is no shame in failure, but there is in failure to try.” TAVA is trying. Several LGBT organizations are willing to try. People associated with the government are willing to try. There are people working on fixing the DSM and I applaud them. But, trans veterans and service members are not waiting around for them to finish. The time to act is now.
Repealing DADT is one thing and to be applauded, but most people are unaware that that a gay soldier in a legal union is not allowed to live on base with his or her partner and whose partners do not receive any federal benefits simply because the federal government does not recognize same-sex marriages, civil unions or domestic partnerships. The final insult is when the gay service member dies. His surviving partner doesn’t even receive the flag as a token of thanks from a “grateful nation”.
DADT is about sexual orientation and from what I understand had nothing to do with Transgender or Transsexual. I heard that post-op transsexuals are allowed to join the military. Is that true? Not sure if the military would be a good place to go through transition.
Help me out! After Pride on Saturday, several of us “seasoned” gays had a discussion and don’t understand the TBQ letters in our acquired moniker. If you are a trans person don’t you then see yourself as a gay man or gay women or straight man or straight woman? So shouldn’t that be covered simply with a G or an L? Part of the non-support from the gay community is simply we are confused ourselves and find it difficult to grasp and defend the wide range of sexual identity labels assigned by the community. Help us out!
DADT as a statute was solely about sexual orientation. Gender idendity was not addressed in the law and so repealing DADT naturally did not include it. Not everything LGBT needs to be coupled at all times for effective progress (nor does it mean that someone is throwing anyone under the bus). I wonder if this particular battle is that high of a priority — or whether basic needs (accomodations, civilian employment non-discrimination, health services, etc.) should be where the emphasis is applied.
Military regulations regarding mental health & fitness around gender identity, can likely and hopefully will be addressed admnistratively — but as you point out, the military would probably not be a good place to transition…
Veterans care also needs to be addressed and hopefully brought into line with the new WPATH SOC. My only quibble with WPATH is that while they have created these standards, there doesn’t appear to be any sort of board certification for them… nor is there a certified physicians registry (for the full range of appropriate care).