Saturday, April 21, 2018

I Was Once Transgender. Why I Think Trump Made the Right Decision for the Military. The Military Is a Fighting Force, Not a Gender Clinic

Intellectual Takeout
I think he made the right decision—and as someone who lived as trans-female for several years, I should know.
 I Was Once Transgender. Why I Think Trump Made the Right Decision for the Military.

"When I discovered Congress voted earlier this month to not block funding for transgender-related hormone therapies and sex change surgeries, I wondered if it considered how devastating this will be to the fitness, readiness, and morale of our combat-ready troops.
"In July, the House of Representatives voted down Missouri Republican Rep. Vicky Hartzler’s amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, which would have banned the military from funding such treatments.
"Paying for transition-related surgeries for military service members and their families is beyond comprehensible.
"Perhaps they have forgotten that our military was forged to be the world’s strongest fighting force, not a government-funded, politically correct, medical sex change clinic for people with gender dysphoria.
"Gender dysphoria, the common diagnosis for one who feels at odds with his or her birth gender, develops from prolonged anxiety and depression. People are not born that way.
"The “proof” for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria is having strongly held feelings—but feelings can and often do change over time.
"The military is expected to prepare its members in warfare: to kill, destroy, and break our enemies. The most important factors in preparing a strong military are not hormone therapy, surgical sex changes, or politically correct education." . . .

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