Opinion: Transgender Troops Are More Than A Financial Burden

first published on July 27, 2017 by Funker

42.8k SHARES Share Tweet

Transgender troops are more than a financial burden on the military. They are also a burden on their unit’s readiness and effectiveness.

Facebook and left leaning news sources are full of military experts these past few days. Funny thing is, I don’t recall seeing very many of them in Iraq or Afghanistan. I do however recall hearing several hundred stories of “I was going to enlist, but (insert generic disqualifying disorder)”

We’re going to break this down shotgun style. Currently there’s an 18 page order commanders need to follow to the letter that explicitly states a service member, once diagnosed with Gender Dysphoria by a military doctor, must be catered to at all costs to avoid an incident. This includes accommodating for time off of work, and having the service member limited duty in a non-deployable role at their parent unit for the duration of their transition which will last until the medical personnel overseeing the transition deem said transition complete. The overall cost of this is covered by the taxpayer, and yes the current overall cost of this is less than a single percent of the overall spend of medicine for troops and veterans, for now.

Here’s what’s not listed in that cost to the taxpayer. That service member will still receive a check on the first and the fifteenth of every month while doing almost no work in support of the military’s overall mission of winning wars while they are in a transitional stage between genders. On top of this, all unit leaders from the lowest level to the highest have to take time out of their day to ensure that a single individual service member is being taken care of. This detracts from their ability to accomplish the mission, and ensure the welfare and well-being of all service members in their charge. This point is proven in the amount of time that is currently being spent on the few thousand individuals currently serving with Gender Dysphoria of the 2.26 million men and women that make up our armed forces.

This transitional period can last up to, and beyond, the entire duration of the service members tenure in the military, especially if they are put on a medical hold and not allowed to EAS or ETS at the appropriate time while pending further treatment or complications with their transition. On top of this, individuals who complete transition require on-going and continual psychological support for the duration of their lives in order to maintain their overall mental health. If we medically separate dudes who have PTSD caused from war, why should we allow an individual suffering from any of the after effects of a gender change to continue to serve? Also, when word of the military’s program gets out, there is nothing stopping a person who thinks they may be suffering from this from simply enlisting just to undergo the costly and long procedures under a program that will not only pay their way, but actually pay them to have a sex change, while providing them with lifetime benefits under the visage of service.

If you don’t think the system will be played and abused in its entirety, then you don’t understand how the military works. Not every single person enlists into the military with selfless service and sacrifice for their nation on the mind. In fact, I would say close to ten percent of the overall operational forces joined the military as a free ride to improve their life, and they are currently finding every nook and cranny that they can to hide under.

This isn’t a human rights issue. It’s not a political issue to shine another negative light on the POTUS. It is in fact the correct decision that is needed to change the status quo of waste and fraud in the Department of Defense. While this may seem like some slight against the LGBTQ community, or a step back and away from LGBTQ rights, I assure you it is not. This should be a disqualifying disorder for military service similar to childhood asthma or poor vision. Those individuals are kept out of military service because they would be a burden on the institutions they wish to serve in.

Gender Dysphoria is a very real condition. I know genuinely good people who suffer from this, and I treat them as I would any other person on this planet. However, note the word diagnose. There are an uncountable number of diagnosable conditions that can bar someone from military service, and in this instance I completely agree with an overwhelming majority of active duty and veteran service members that catering to, and treating people with the condition is not the responsibility of an organization that exists only to win our nation’s wars.