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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (May 9, 2018)
SHOULD TRANSGENDER PEOPLE BE ALLOWED TO ENLIST? STQRY A N D AR T BY AU TUM N BEREND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF The Angry Tranny is a new column,by Autumn Berend that explores ideas- and concepts about the transgender community and transgenderism itself, answering questions and critiquing concepts. As contentious as this is, people on botll sides hâve their unadulterated - opinions, void of any nuance. On one side of the aisle we have the notion that transgender people should not be allowed in the military because of a few things. Thé first being that they take medication like estrogen or testosterone. Therefore they can’t serve or because they “ require Surgery,” according to to Thomas Spoehr’ s article from the Heritage Foundation.Ww The second has to do with gender identity, with some of the harshest critics suggesting, that if they can’t tell they’re male or female, they don’t want them to watch their back, as was such an argument I faced personally. Those that support trans individuals enlisting normally think that anyone can enlist if they want to, but also because there are no real medical reasons they can’t serve, as highlighted by the American Medical Association to U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Now, I should state, I have attempted to join the military. I went as far as to haye, my job selected and I swore in to the United States Navy, though I later left close to my flight for basic training on the basis of the immaturity of the staff, demands I check in and appear to mandatory meetings with vlny recruiter on a weekly basis, as well as wanting to just get to college. I’d still be enlisted to this day, and the. option they offered me was online college, which seemed asinine to me at the time, and even now. In fact, I wouldn’t have become the Editor-irt- Chief for The Clackamas Print had I Transfer to Concordia University and develop the skills you need to begin your career. Scholarships of $7,000 to $14,000 per year make a bachelor’s degree affordable. Block transfers and helpful transfer coordinators make the admission process easy. There’s even a $250 scholarship just for visiting campus. Cali, click, or come by today. C o n c o r d ia U N IV E R S IT Y FOR MORE INFORMATION: VISIT: WWW 7RAN5FERÏDCQNCOPD1A COM CALL: S83-28Ö-8503 / 1-808-325-9371 EMAIL: ADMISSION@CU-POR7LANO EOU Clackamas Print PORTLAND * OREGON Recently there has been controversy about transgender individuals in the military, further sparked by President Donald Trump's tweet stating that they should not be allowed in. gone in. So, I know the basic process, at least On the surface because of first hand experience. So, I’d like to say I know what I’m talking about, and I have spoken to many soldiers’, veterans and recruiters about the process. I haye a history of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and have taken medications for it. The first thing they cleared up is that I could not join if I had taken it recently, about a year since being o ff. It had been much longer than a year since I had been off, so I qualified to join the United States Navy. They also highlighted that if a rare occurrence were to happen where? shipm ents o f my m edications did not get to the ship on time, I should be able to do my job, whateverit is, effectively and be combat ready. To address banning trans people in the military, because they, take •medication, it needs to be highlighted that no evidence (empirical evidence at least,) exists that suggests without hormone replacement therapy trans people are not effective. It’s not the same effect as ADHD medication or a sleep apnea machine. This is simply hormones, which, while important, don’t affect one’ s ability to do their job, let alone be combat ready. If I stopped taking medication and had no surgeries, I’d simply begin producing male hormones. For trans men, they’d do the opposite and produce estrogen. So, yvhat exactly is the issue? I think it should be stated, to be more nuanced and meet in the middle, anyone, trans or not, taking medication must be examined medically as soldiers already are, to determined if they can serve. If they can, the medication they take can be waived, but if they are determined theclackam asprint.net otherwise, they can’t serve. I think in terms of medication, this covers both fields. If they’re trans, they will be evaluated if they can serve or not, and assuming they pass, they must be required to sign a paper, since they do take medications, saying they agree to potentially not taking medication. This does not, I repeat, does not meam-they can not take medication. Just thatthey understand there may come a rare time where they can not have it, even for one day, and they are agreeing to those terms. ’The second argument to address is that dysphoria is a mental illn e ss,. thus should be excluded. Yes, I may be franS) but.it’ s not an anchor that ties me down and prevents me from making competent choices. I lead a newspaper, write articles freelance, I’v e ’lead students and set trips up, made hefty choices, covered protests, etc. I am fully capable of working as a thinking human and knowing how to shoot a gun and know who is and isn’t my enemy. The m ilitary is a co-w orking system that shouldn’t focus on what someone’s gender or sex is, what their skin color or race is or who they’re sexually attracted to. As long as they can do thé job, are battle-ready and, assuming they take médication, can function without it and willingtd sign a paper saying they will be OK off of it in those circumstances, they should have every right to join. | I reached out to the Veteran Center at CCC and the Navy recruiting center for comment, but neither have responded to my inquiry,*or was willing to go on the record with a statement. Nay 9, 2018
