In one of his first executive orders as president, Joe Biden reversed Donald Trump’s ban against transgender people serving openly in the United States military. Why would people who have been a victim of systemic discrimination want to go fight and kill on behalf of the system?
Trans People Are Welcome to Kill for the Military
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication and WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a contributor to Centerclip and co-host of "The Final Countdown" talk show on Radio Sputnik. He is a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "2024: Revisited."
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Well, why wouldn’t they? Jews were perfectly eager to kill for our state when permitted, for instance, discrimination and pogroms notwithstanding. Being systemically discriminated against doesn’t make one anti-system or anti-killing, and I do not see the logic that makes American progressives (no one here is that dumb, at least) expect it to do so.
The trans community, like all communities, consists mostly of people who want to belong. Nothing helps you feel like part of the group like ganging up on someone who isn’t. It’s the reason d’etre for the police, for religion, the military, sports, and high school.
But let’s look at the numbers. The trans military population? All else being equal, there should be about 7,000 trans active members in the U.S. military. Demographically, this is a rounding error. That the media has devoted any space to this at all is silly.
Despite what the Professional Outrage Takers say, that transgendered people aren’t allowed to “serve” their country by becoming enforcers for the global criminal activities of the U.S. government is not a significant crime.
Would you like to know what is a crime? Transgendered people are more likely than cisgendereds to be unemployed, homeless, poor, and in need of psychological counseling. But if we focused on that — on finally getting universal healthcare on the books and making college free to the student just like high school is — what would the POTs do to accumulate and wield power?
A friend of mine used to argue against marriage equality. He had had a bad divorce and wanted to protect as many people as possible from the institution!