Greetings and salutations; hello (again) dear Reader, and welcome!
I'd like to share thoughts about the controversy surrounding transgender people and military service, if you will read along and offer your own thoughts on the matter (dissent and agreement and other are all welcome).
You know, I love our country the same as the next red-blooded American and would have happily been in the military from the moment that age qualified me; I went to all the recruitment offices the week that I turned 18 years old, in fact. The promise of benefits like discipline, strength, team-work, excellence - all of those beckoned, and the need to serve my country and live a life for others seemed like everything one could hope for from a meaningful, productive life. My heart towards this nation and her people remains the same to this day, decades later, and no branch of our military accepted my passionate desire to serve. Now, let me tell you why.
First and possibly the easiest of all of these reasonable rejections to accept, is the obvious 'no' in response to my medical condition/s, like asthma. So, why not? Well, with asthma, I'd be reliant on constant medication just to *maybe* breathe as well as my peers (causing me to be a liability to each and every one of them!). That's just one example, so: truly medical reasons. And, even though it broke my heart, I understand. It is better to be a faithful civilian who is *not* compromising others (albeit inadvertently, but intent here does nothing to alter the potential of a negative and avoidable end result).
Now, my case is just one of a myriad of legitimate, substantiated reasons applicable to me that all resulted in the fact that I did not/ do not qualify for military service. The military didn't hate me because of my asthma; they did not judge me for it, or accuse me of loving my country any less than they do. But, the reality is that, I am among the compromised, which (if accepted to serve anyway) would have weakened the entire military, me their compromised Achille's Heel, just waiting for that artfully lobbed arrow to strike.
So, let's talk about the recent SCOTUS ruling which upholds President Trump's executive order which disallows transgender people from serving.
Does it look like and/or maybe feel like an attack, betrayal, or other rejection that is somehow personal in nature?
And here, it might be challenging, but may I please try to gently encourage you here, dear Reader, to please: stop, breathe, pause, think IF it does make you feel passionately negative initially, as though it's an attack, etc.
You can do this; our feelings and our thoughts are seperate, sometimes we have to slow down and become very controlled and deliberate to sort those things out and deliberately lean into the whole "thought" option in order to gain better control of the "feelings" option.
Ok; now that we're on the same page and using our minds to sort through all of these things, I'd like to offer the thought that (maybe) our president did not make this decision as anything other than a desire to protect people who are potentially more vulnerable medically speaking. Specifically, like my asthma or diabetes disqualify me because they can't be expected to provide the meds I need out in combat zones, the same medical truth also applies to transgender people, who need constant access to certain medications in order to keep their own medical needs addressed, which is every bit as valid and important as any other medical need, frankly. In fact, I even see the protective decision as one that validates the humanity of the transgender population by deliberately protecting them by keeping them out of harm's way, which is precisely the role of those who are allowed to serve (putting themselves in harm's way, that is).
I submit to you that protective actions show love, respect, consideration... not judgement and certainly not hate.
And, praise God for every brave American heart of the ones who love this country enough to want (actually want!) to lay his/her/their lives down in service to the rest of us?! I mean, hello, what's not to love and admire about such selfless courage? The willingness to serve in and of itself is meritorious in my eyes, but I digress. The fact that some of us just don't meet the medical mark/ fall short of what is medically required in order to be a true military asset, is not a reflection on who we are, and in no way even hints that we are any less valuable than those who are able to serve. Always remember this.
The safety and efficacy of our military - it's lethality - must always remain priority number one, period, under any and all circumstances, in perpetuity.
Anything and I mean literally *anything* that distracts from the primary goal is potentially detrimental and, therefore, must be disallowed and accounted for from the very beginning. It's not something that we can afford to experiment with. To preserve strength and potency, standards must be stringently applied to each and every one of us, equally and across the board.
Anyway, thank you for taking some time to read and consider these thoughts; what do you think, dear Reader?
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