The Right Thing, The Right Reason, Questionable Outcome

Bravo President Biden, bravo! Reversing the previous administration’s decision banning transgender persons from serving in the military is absolutely the right thing to do. Transgender women and men have the same desire to serve their country in uniform as everyone else in the military. Lifting the ban and allowing them to serve is a commendable decision. There is, however, cause for concern.

First, the military has a problem with white supremacists. The recent surge in hate groups in the United States is reflected in the military. It is a long standing problem and the military has yet to find a way to root it out. Most hate groups are deeply sexist, homophobic and transphobic in addition to being racist. This has implications for transgender service members who may be assigned to the same unit with white supremacists. It can affect unit cohesion and readiness for deployment as well as performance while deployed. It is not known how extensive the problem of white supremacy is in the military, since it flies under the radar. What is known is that it has increased under the former occupant’s reign of error.

Second, transgender service members do not have the same protections as gay, lesbian and bi-sexual personnel in military regulations. When “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” was repealed by President Obama in 2011 it left out transgender soldiers. This leaves them in a kind of in-between place where their complaints have a difficult time finding their way up the chain of command. In addition, the language pertaining to transgender soldiers does not match the language of the DSM V. This is the “bible” of mental health diagnoses and serves as the gatekeeper to all mental health services. The practical implication is that soldiers with gender dysphoria (severe distress in those whose gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth) may be unable to access mental health services which include therapy, medication and possible gender alignment surgery. Language congruence in military regulation and DSM V is needed to correct this problem.

Finally, the military has a lousy record of dealing with sexual assault and harassment. Kudos to new Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for signing what amounts to an executive order to address the problem. In his Sunday memorandum he told “Pentagon senior leaders, commanders, defense agency and Department of Defense field activity directors to speed up efforts to get a handle on the situation.” Since institutions move glacially, this doesn’t offer much hope. Patriarchal institutions move even slower. The military is the quintessential “good old boy’s network” and changing attitudes from the top down is a daunting challenge.

Reading documents from military papers leads one to believe the problem of sexual assault is well in hand, and that complaints are taken seriously and resolved justly. Survivors of sexual assault and harassment tell a very different story. Protect our Defenders is a national human rights organization dedicated to ending sexual violence in the military. Their data show that in fiscal year 2018 there were over 20,500 sexual assaults. Women represented 13,000 and men 7,500.  This is up 40% from fiscal year 2016-2017. These numbers were very different from the numbers reported by the military. Protect our Defenders reported that 76.1% of assaults were not reported within the chain of command.

The major barrier to reporting is fear of retaliation. Since 59% of women reporting penetrative assault noted that it was someone from a higher rank and 24% reported it was someone in their chain of command, it is easy to understand the unwillingness to report. In fact 66% of women reported retaliation and 73% of that retaliation was from within their chain of command. One third of survivors were discharged within 7 months of reporting and 24% were released with a less than honorable discharge.

At this point, there is little hope for justice for survivors in the military. Convictions in 2015 fell 60% despite a 22% increase in reporting. Only 6.4% were tried in a court martial and 2.4% were convicted. That leaves a lot of women (and more than a few men) without the justice they deserve.

 While the military is breaking its arm patting itself on the back for lifting the ban, 38% of women and 4% of men report some type of military sexual trauma. It is second only to combat related post-traumatic stress disorder. The number is likely much higher given the reticence to report.

Lifting the ban on transgender soldiers is absolutely the right thing to do. It affirms the inherent worth and dignity of all people. The question is, “Is the military ready?” Sometimes those who are the object of an institution’s best intentions end up paying the highest cost.