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Camryn Peck

Jackie Burr, Instructor

English 2010, Section 4

12 April 2019

Can ​anyone​ Serve in the Military?

Does just anyone qualify for military service? According to the Army Physical

Requirements and Body Fat Calculator, an 18 year old, 96 lb female would have to gain about 52

more pounds, reaching 150 lbs before even considering talking to a recruiter. Each military

branch has different requirements they would like each of the cadets to meet. For example, each

branch has a mental stability requirement. All cadets must be completely mentally stable, if

history of depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, or any mental disability occur, there must be a

doctors order explaining that mental stability is no longer a problem. There is also, of course, a

physical requirement. There cannot be any history of major surgeries or a frequent need for

surgery due to medical disabilities. Putting these requirements into consideration, does the

participation of LGBTQ+ servicemen/women affect the performance of the military?

This, unfortunately, is currently a controversial topic. With the recent ban of transgender

servicemen/women, there have been riots and protests standing up for the LGBTQ+ military

service rights. Arguments about allowing these individuals to serve have been happening for

years, though it has never been this bad. There are many factors to this new law, seeing as many

military camps are separated by gender. Does it really make sense to disqualify a person from

service because nobody knows which camp to place them in? Should a transgender male be put

with the men or women?

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According to an anonymous Marine Core serviceman, “Hazing is already such an issue,

just imagine how bad it could get if these individuals are sent to the wrong camp,” being a victim

of hazing himself, he brings up a good point. Many people get hurt every day due to hazing,

military generals are already getting in huge trouble for it. The

graphic to the right states that there are 163,000 transgender

veterans in the US (William’s Institute). America has proved

countless times that its military is the strongest one out there, so

why make such drastic changes? Each soldier does their job

equally, if they are capable of getting the job done and doing it

well, why should it matter their sexual orientation or transition?

Transition surgery is expensive, not to mention needing to

take hormones along with have the procedure done. Most people

believe this is the reason for the ban of transgender servicemen, it

would be too expensive for the military to pay for. What people do

not know, though they should, most transgender persons have their

surgery long before they even consider military service. Just like

any other surgery, transition procedures come with recovery time, no getting around it, no

cutting corners. According to Troy Jensen, a high school government teacher, “the ban of

transgender servicemen has nothing to do with cost, but everything to do with discrimination and

conservative values.” WIth the way our government has handled things lately, this could be

pretty spot on. Homophobia and Transphobia are not the only forms of discrimination our
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government has been accused of, though they always find ways for a good cover story as to why

they have decided to do something new.

Transgender individuals are not the only victims of discrimination, gay, bi, and lesbian

soldiers are also discriminated every day. The federal government claims that everyone is

equally safe, but LGBTQ+ hate crimes increased by 3% in the year 2017. This would make it

safe to say the stats increase by 3% each year (NBC News). Enlisting does not ensure a person’s

safety, in fact, it does quite the opposite, “military is like a family, no matter what branch, we

look out for each other,” (Anonymous Marine Serviceman) though even within the walls of

family, people still get hurt.

Donald Trump, elected in the year 2016, has been notorious for being sexist,

homophobic/transphobic, and racist. Recently his idea to revive Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was

brought to the attention of the US. DADT was repealed in the year 2010 and there have been no

problems since then. This topic is quite complicated considering US citizens are split pretty

evenly among LGBT supporters and haters. Reviving DADT will not only complicate things for

the soldiers that fight for the American freedoms, but will also cause much more conflict and

many more riots, protests, and most likely hazing. With the recent shootings and other

discriminative issues going on around the country, would it really be smart to risk causing more

problems reviving a policy created in the early 90’s? “DADT was implemented in 1994 to allow

gay and bisexual men and women to serve in the military. But DADT had a negative impact on

the health of their troops and communities” (Karen W. Hoover Nationally Representative

Prevalence Estimates of Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex With Men Who Have

Served in the U.S Military).

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The ban of Transgender service and the reviving of DADT may bring few advances to

our military, but the greater good lies in the inclusion of every eligible soldier. Transgender

soldiers may complicate gender based camps and privacy standards, but this country could be

greatly blessed by having such a diverse military. Each soldier has their own story of why they

enlisted, sadly there are people who enlist solely for the benefits, though most people do it out of

sheer interest and curiosity. A lot of US soldiers are recruited from high schools, as most history

classes will have a military recruiter come in and speak to the students about what they actually

do and hand out recruitment sheets. As most people decide on their transition in high school or

shortly after, it is simply unfair to automatically take the opportunity to serve away from them

because they know who they really are.We as people are encouraged to find ourselves and

discover who we are, yet we discriminate those who do it openly.

In conclusion, regardless of the military policies, LGBTQ+ servicemen/women should

not be discriminated against and automatically turned away. Sexual orientation or preference

does not matter as long as the soldier can do the job and do it well, though camps are run by

gender and the military is not known for ‘catering’ to people’s personal needs, it is the job of the

government to protect every citizen of the United States regardless of race, sexual orientation,

gender, etc. This situation is just the same as the time when women were not permitted to serve,

after that was resolved, the US military changed for the better. Having women serve has given

this military many more opportunities and smoother duties. Just like women are needed to help

other women in different countries, as men are usually not allowed to touch a woman in far

countries, LGBTQ+ soldiers can act as support for the people that are afraid of the culture they

grew up learning. In some countries, coming out to your parents results in beatings, starvations,
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and other forms of abuse due to breaking the standard culture or religious values. LGBTQ+

soldiers could positively impact this military.

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Works Cited

“Executive Power — Presidential Directives — in Tweets, President Purports to Ban

Transgender Servicemembers.” ​Harvard Law Review​, vol. 131, no. 3, Jan. 2018, pp. 934–943.

EBSCOhost​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=127305017&site=ehost-live.

Howe, Edmund. “Ethics and Transgender Service Members, Dependents, and Retirees.” ​Military

Medicine,​ vol. 181, no. 3, Mar. 2016, pp. 193–194. ​EBSCOhost​,

doi:10.7205/MILMED-D-15-00527

Hoover, Karen W., et al. “Nationally Representative Prevalence Estimates of Gay, Bisexual, and

Other Men Who Have Sex with Men Who Have Served in the U.S. Military.” ​PLoS ONE​, vol.

12, no. 8, Aug. 2017, pp. 1–9. ​EBSCOhost​, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0182222.

“Transgender Military Policy.” Congressional Digest, vol. 96, no. 8, Oct. 2017, p. 31.

EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=125240320&site=ehost-live.

Gritz, Jennie Rothenberg. “NAME, RANK and GENDER: THE SERVICE OF

TRANSGENDER TROOPS HAS BECOME THE MILITARY’S MOST CONTROVERSIAL

ISSUE.” ​Smithsonian,​ vol. 49, no. 9, Jan. 2019, pp. 94–101. ​EBSCOhost​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=133857997&site=ehost-live.

Jensen, Troy. Personal Interview. 2 April, 2019

Anonymous Interview. Skype Interview. 2 April, 2019

Seck, Hodge. “The Boot Camp Gender Divide: The Case for Co-Ed Training.” ​Marine Corps

Times,​ Marine Corps Times, 7 Aug. 2017,

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www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2015/08/03/the-boot-camp-gender-divide-t

he-case-for-co-ed-training/​.

John Bacon, et al. “Gay Ex-Army Chief Blasts Trump.” ​USA Today​. ​EBSCOhost,​

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=J0E313939182117&site=ehost-live.

Accessed 4 Apr. 2019.

“Women, Gay, and Bisexual Veterans at Increased Risk for Disordered Eating.” ​Eating

Disorders Review​, vol. 27, no. 5, Sept. 2016, p. 1. ​EBSCOhost,​

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=118352001&site=ehost-live.