Sixty-Nine Years and Counting…

Sixty-nine years ago today, on July 26, 1948, President Harry S. Truman issued the order that desegregated the United States Military. Experts proclaimed the end of military effectiveness and promised total revolt among the troops. As the North Koreans found out 2 years later, American military might was as strong as ever (and the politicians as meddlesome and lacking in grand strategy as ever, but that’s another thing entirely). Without a doubt, there have been problems with racism and discrimination since the military was desegregated, but at a time before the desegregation of public schools when Jim Crow laws were still in effect throughout the South, the four branches of the military cut a path through the racial jungle and proved that we as a nation can grow up.

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was an awful compromise that allowed LGBT Americans to serve as long as they were willing to hide a substantial part of their identity behind what society considered “normal.” The men and women who were outed and forced to leave the service were no doubt highly qualified and trained and also no doubt their expulsion caused problems for their units when sudden vacancies arose. It took almost 20 years for DADT to be repealed, even though we were actively at war for nearly 10 of those years. The fears that a few people harbored about LGBT compatriots caused no end of harm, both when it was flat-out illegal to be in the military if one was LGBT and when one could join if one was still closeted. I thought perhaps that the repeal of DADT was the last hurdle to full maturity of our military policy and thus a harbinger of maturity of society.

I was wrong. Sadly, we can also refuse to grow up.

Today, the man who occupies the White House—who carries the title President of the United States of America but who is the least qualified person in my lifetime, my parents’ lifetime, and possibly (though the jury is still out on James Buchanan and James K. Polk) the entire history of that office—announced through his favorite medium that the United States Military will no longer allow people who identify as transgender to serve this country. His “rationale” involves the cost of services and accommodations. The reality is that he, like others in this country who have yet to grasp the concept that God calls all humanity “very good,” sees our transgender siblings as defective junk with no possible good to contribute. This bigotry is appalling and not at all Christ-like. It is downright inhumane.

The Open and Affirming Coalition of the United Church of Christ issued a statement today about the current president’s abrupt announcement in which it notes that just yesterday, my home state of Texas passed a “bathroom bill” that requires people to use the public restroom of their birth-assigned gender. Coupled with the ban on military service, such “bathroom bills” are an affront to the dignity of transgender people everywhere. And it is not just dignity and civil rights at stake as these horrific laws and policies become a reality: lives are in danger, as well. The Coalition reminds us, “Transgender women of color are dying on the streets of our cities, and 30 states fail to provide any legal protection for transgender citizens from discrimination in housing, employment or public services.”

We who are cisgendered will never know exactly what it feels like to know with every fiber of being and intellect that the outward appearance of our bodies does not match the inward identity. We don’t need to know. What we are called to do is listen, learn, and advocate for full equality of our siblings who are God’s beloved children. It is time to flood both houses of Congress with phone calls, e-mails, snail mail letters, and wherever possible, personal visits on behalf of our siblings. If you are a veteran, your voice has special weight, as the DADT repeal process showed. If you are a person of faith, your voice also has special weight because much of the opposition to full inclusion comes from religious groups; the more we can counter that very loud but relatively small percentage of the population, the better.

The policy announced on Twitter today cannot be allowed to stand. It is un-American and inhumane. It harms the people of all gender identities who volunteer to serve on the front lines of our defense, which ultimately harms us all. Until we grow up enough as a species to stop going to war with each other, at the very least our military should be open to all who want to serve. God willing, we will grow up completely in my lifetime…

PS: If you are an LGBT veteran and want to have your voice amplified in this effort, check out the American Veterans for Equal Rights.