House Armed Forces Committee Hearing On Trump Trans Troop Ban Happening Soon

This is why elections matter.

When the Democrats got control of the US House, what that also meant is that when this session of the 116th Congress started, every committee got a new chairperson that is a Democratic Party member, with the Republicans sliding into the Ranking Member seat. 

It also goes without saying that Democratic majorities, like the House, .are ensconced in every committee and subcommittee.

Rep Jackie Speier (D-CA) is the new head of the House Armed Services Committee Military Personnel Subcommittee.

In the wake of the SCOTUS unjust ruling  lifting two of the three injunctions blocking implementation of the odious Trump trans military ban, a hearing of this subcommittee has been scheduled for February 27 to discuss it according to reporting by Chris Johnson of the Washington Blade.

The hearing on 'Transgender Service Policy' will feature transgender member of our armed services along with  Trump administration officials.

Set to testify on that date at 2 PM EST are Army Captain Alivia Stehlik, Army Captain Jennifer Peace, Army Staff Sgt. Patricia King, Navy Corpsman and Petty Officer 3rd Class Patricia King  Navy Lt. Commander Blake Dremann and Navy Hospital Corpsman and Petty Officer 3rd Class Akira Wyatt

Peace and Dremann were some of the trans service members invited to attend the recent State of the Union message.

Jesse Ehrenfeld MD, who is now at the Vanderbilt School of Medicine, is also set to testify as a combat veteran deployed to Afghanistan.

The Trump administration people invited to testify are James Stewart, who is performing the duties of the undersecretary of readiness and defense, and Vice Admiral Raquel Bono, who heads the Defense Health Agency.

Some of the Democratic legislators that sit on that subcommittee are Rep Deb Haaland (D-NM)

The hearing will take place in Room 2118 of the Rayburn House Office Building, so if you wish to go as community members to support our trans troops and live in the DC area, I hope that you can do so.

Trans Americans Will Be Allowed To Enlist on January 1

Despite Trump and his white supremacist fundie allies desires to mess with our ability to serve our country, on January 1, 2018 the Pentagon will allow any qualified transgender American to enlist in the US Armed Forces. 

You will have to have been on hormones for 18 months to do so.

Trans people serve  in our armed forces at a higher rate than our cis counterparts, and there are currently over 15,500 active duty trans people serving our country in various capacities. 

There are several lawsuits pending to squash the Trump transgender service ban he announced via Twitter back in July.   Two US district federal court judges have already ruled against the ban and shut down a last ditch attempt by the Trump administration to keep transgender Americans from enlisting as the cases wind their way through the federal judiciary.

Pentagon spokesperson Maj. David Eastburn stated that the enlistment of trans American citizens would commence on January 1 and would continue even as the cases are litigated in the federal court system.

So if you're a trans person who meets the qualifications for service in our armed forces and wish to do, then you can head to your nearest recruiting center to start the process.

How About Using Pics Of Real Trans Service Members To Support Trans Troops?

I was a fan of the show M*A*S*H* until it went off the air in February 1983.  One of the characters on it was Maxwell Q. Klinger, who spent much of the series trying to get out of the Army on a Section 8 discharge.  One of the ways he tried to do that was by crossdressing, but it never worked because his superior officers saw right through it

In the wake of 45's misguided tweet announcing a ban on trans military service, which the Joint Chiefs of Staff quickly stated isn't happening, there are some folks who have been posting pics of Cpl. Klinger in drag to allegedly support trans service members.

If you are doing that, stop it immediately.  

It is not only disrespectful to our trans veterans and the 15,500 trans service members currently serving in various capacities across all branches of our armed forces, it is reinforcing some harmful stereotypes.

And our right wing enemies are already using the Klinger memes to attack trans military service.

Trans folks proudly served, and post military have been taking the leadership skills they learned in our military and using them to provide leadership in our community.

Some of trans trailblazers like Phyllis Frye, Monica Helms, Christine Jorgensen and Kristin Beck all have in common they served our nation in the armed forces

If you really wish to support trans service members, then use pics of real peeps like SSgt Logan Ireland, Sgt. Shane Ortega, and Col. Sheri Swokowski just to name a few.

And note to the unhinged haters, transgender people serve in the armed forces of 18 nations on this planet, many of which are our NATO allies.

Being a trans service member is not a joke.   So how about reinforcing that point if you sincerely wish to support trans service members by sharing pics of actual trans people in the military?