Position

Transgender individuals should not be able to serve in the military due to strict medical
requirements, forced social changed among soldiers, and decreased military effectiveness. In the
past I wanted to have the opportunity to serve in the military, more specifically I wanted to attend
the United Sates Air Force Academy and swim. I was denied this because I simply had an allergy
to peanuts. Issues regarding transgender service is much more complicated than a peanut allergy.
To join the military in any capacity one must be able to pass a strict military medical
examination to see if the person being evaluated is physically and mentally fit to serve.
According to the Department of Defense Instructions of Medical Standards for Appointment,
enlistment, or induction into the military service one must not have a “history of major
abnormalities or defects of the genitalia such as including but not limited to change of sex
(P64.5) (CPT 55970, 55980), hermaphroditism, pseudohermaphrodites, or pure gonadal
dysgenesis (752.7)”[ CITATION Uni18 \l 1033 ]. From this we can conclude that as discussed
earlier in the overview transsexuals would not be able to serve in the military due to a sex
change. In order for these individuals to serve in the military, medical standards would have to be
changed for all individuals.
The military job is to accomplish its mission as efficiently and effectively as possible.
The whole world has yet to accept transgender people. In the military this would be forced upon
many possibly creating social injustices and conflict within the military itself. Distracting the
men and women who protect our country from accomplishing their task effectively. During
training drill sergeants and many other officers would have to worry about their political
correctness when addressing transgender individuals and making sure that they are using the
correct pronouns. United States Military training is some of the most brutal in the entire world.
With the argument that transgenderism is a mental illness could cause specific individuals who
are already mentally instable to break down and cause conflict.
Lastly, as touched on in the pervious paragraphs allowing transgenders to serve in the
military would decrease military effectiveness. As stated by Thomas Spoehr, a retired three
general “transgender individuals allowed into the military “would need medical treatments—
hormone therapies and often surgeries and the accompanying recovery times—throughout the
duration of their service”[ CITATION Abb17 \l 1033 ]. These accompanying recovery times
prevent the military from being as effective as it should be. With the mental instability trend in
many transgender individuals it would prevent groups within the military from accomplishing
their task.