And inevitable
A Bulwark column by Will Selber (“retired spook”) takes on the Trump administration’s frenzied effort to purge the military of the miniscule number of transgender persons in the services. A casual observer might think it the greatest problem facing the Pentagon.
As a commander, Selber had to deal with a lot of personnel issues from vaccine refusal to sexual assault charges. But his training provided little guidance for how to counsel an airman who wanted to transition. Still, his primary responsibility was to ensure his unit “was in tip-top shape at all times.”
I asked, “You sure you want to do this?” The answer was yes. I must admit, I had some reservations. For old men like me, transgenderism is a foreign concept. So I read up on it. However, what really convinced me to approve the airman’s request was the airman. Imagine how much courage it took to come into a commander’s office and request such a procedure. That’s courage. And we need more of that in the military.
If these team members were otherwise met standards for service, so what if they identify as transgender? Sure their presence was awkward at first for some other unit members, Selber explains. “However, at the end of the day, despite a few quips, they were integrated into the team.”
It’s not as if Americans are lining up to serve their country in the military these days. Patriotism for many consists of waving flags and collecting guns. Why would the Air Force drum out members and their families over their transgender identities? Selber believes “they deserved better than being summarily separated after being promised steady employment if they swore to uphold and defend the Constitution.”
Hell, the “draft-dodging felon” giving the orders doesn’t do that.
Selber admits he never fully grasped “all the ins and outs of LGBTQ culture.” But then as a man could he (or I) understand what it is to be a woman? What mattered most was that LGBTQ airmen were proud to serve their country.
Adaptation to change takes time. It’s awkward. It was awkward for some to integrate schools or to integrate women into combat roles. But it’s done. Mostly.
I’m reminded of a retort by comedian John Fugelsang to people’s squeamishness about others’ sexual preference and identity. Roughly: In America, your right not to feel icky does not cancel others’ right to love who they love or be who they are.
I reflect regularly on a Hugo- and Nebula-winning science fiction novel I read in high school. For those unfamiliar with The Left Hand of Darkness:
The novel follows the story of Genly Ai, a human native of Terra, who is sent to the planet of Gethen as an envoy of the Ekumen, a loose confederation of planets. Ai’s mission is to persuade the nations of Gethen to join the Ekumen, but he is stymied by a lack of understanding of their culture. Individuals on Gethen are ambisexual, with no fixed sex; this has a strong influence on the culture of the planet, and creates a barrier of understanding for Ai.
Do Genthians make a Terran feel somewhat icky? Get over it. Or at least try.
This passage from the novel’s opening is the one that has stuck with me all these years:
“The Gethenians do not see one another as men or women. This is almost impossible for our imaginations to accept. After all, what is the first question we ask about a newborn baby? ….there is no division of humanity into strong and weak halves, protected/ protective. One is respected and judged only as a human being. You cannot cast a Gethnian in the role of Man or Woman, while adopting towards ‘him’ a corresponding role dependant on your expectations of the interactions between persons of the same or oppositve sex. It is an appalling experience for a Terran ”
― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness
So feel icky, if you must. Then adapt.
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