Back in July, 2017, I voiced my opinion on Trump's ban. Well, recently, the courts have decided to overrule this ban. As you can probably guess, I don't think this is a wise idea.
I also agree with Frank Gaffney, but let me add some insider knowledge. I'm going to talk about one branch of the military that I have personal experience with: the US Navy.
The first issue that the Navy will face will be what rates the trans will be allowed to enlist into. Some rates are primarily ship based, some are primarily shore based, and others are mixed. The living quarters aboard ships and in barracks are divided by sex. The ships and submarines have limiting space for quarters. Smaller ships like the cruisers and destroyers usually have just enough space for their crew and no more, so any rates that would be specifically restricted those two classes are out. Destroyers make up the largest chunk of the Navy's fleet. Submarines, littoral combat ships, and the Zumwalt class don't have the space either. This leaves the Navy with only amphibious assault ships, aircraft carriers and shore duty rates.
That's about 40 ships and numerous bases. Of those 40 ships, the aircraft carriers and helicopter carriers are the largest and would have the most space to provide for special living quarters these trans would require. I don't know about the smaller LSDs and LPDs, they may or may not be able to accommodate separate quarters for trans-men and trans-women. Either way, the ships would require 6 new living spaces - because not only would they have to be split up by trans-man/woman, but also by junior enlisted/senior enlisted and officers.
That's quite a bit of space, and it also narrows down the rates available to trans to those rates that serve aboard those classes of ships or primarily shore commands. That goes for orders as well. This means that the US Navy will have to set aside a certain number of orders and rate slots that can only be fulfilled by trans. This will affect sea-shore rotation, the second issue the US Navy will face.
How much of an affect on the sea-shore rotation and available orders this will, I can't say. Often times it seemed like there weren't enough for what people wanted/needed. It could be negligible, but it may also be significant enough (at least in the minds of sailors) for other sailors to development resentment towards trans and their special treament.
The next issue is pronouns. Mostly, the push for "gender neutral pronouns" comes from non-trans pushing their political agendas. The Navy is not immune to this. What will happen if a captain accidentally "mis-genders" a trans, that trans gets "triggered," and then files a formal complaint? I foresee this resulting in many people using neutral terms like: shipmate (hated by the junior enlisted), seaman, sailor, petty officer, etc. What will they do for officers to replace Sir/Ma'am?
Lastly, but not least, is morale. Certainly sailors, soldiers, marines, and airman will see the special accommodation and treatment the trans will get. This will be a point of contention leaders will have to carefully navigate in order to maintain good morale and esprit de corp.
On top of what I said in my previous post about boot camp, PRT standards, medical costs, training, re-training, and mental illness, the Navy will have to set aside special accommodations for just a handful of sailors and drastically change the way they do things.
For what? I still haven't seen any real benefits of allowing trans to enlist. The above would cost millions if not billions in taxpayers' money (HEY! You and I are taxpayers! That's our money paying for this!). I can, however, find articles on the psychological dangers of transitioning.
All I can see are huge costs for effectively 0 gain. Approximately 0.6% of the adult US population is trans. About 1.4 million. Let's say about 1% of the trans population want to enlist. That's 14,000 new service members that will need special treatment and accommodation. Physically, they aren't any better then straight or gay people, and they may actually be worse. Mentally, we already know they're more prone towards depression. Is the military really that starved for recruits?
So, what is this really about? It's about converging the military into another SJW organization that is more interested in diversity and virtue signalling than its actual job. It's about taxpayer funded elective surgeries. It's about un-elected, activist judges snubbing the President and over turning an order - a dangerous precedent. It's about the GI-Bill and VA benefits that the trans would have access to. It's about politically minded officers looking to bolster their post-military prospects.
In short, this isn't about trans in the military, but about using trans and the military as political pawns for personal gain.
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