Sunday, November 12, 2017

Trans Servicemembers Embraced With Open Arms

No it is not here in the U.S. but in Germany where trans troops serve openly in the military and now there is a Germany commander who has 600 troops under her command.
As Trump attempts a transgender military ban, Germany celebrates its first trans commander
Denver Post
By Rick Noack | The Washington Post
November 11, 2017

STORKOW, Germany – On July 26, when President Donald Trump unexpectedly tweeted his plans to ban transgender servicemen and women from the U.S. military, Anastasia Biefang was more than 4,000 miles away from Washington. Still, she could not hide her shock.

“It felt like a smack in the face,” said the 43-year-old German army officer, who is the first transgender person to command a military unit in the country’s history.

Biefang joined the German army as a man more than 23 years ago. Two years ago, despite fearing negative repercussions for her career, she came out to her superiors and eventually to her entire unit. Her decision to transition from male to female coincided with an unprecedented openness among top military officials in Germany, the United States and other countries to having transgender troops serve openly.
And Trump said that we would disrupt the cohesion of the military but around the world there are trans servicemembers.
At least 18 countries allow transgender service members to serve openly, including eight NATO members: Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Britain, Spain, France and Germany. Their overall assessment is that allowing transgender service members to serve openly can be an advantage to their armed forces, according to a RAND Corp. report released last year. “None of the militaries that we examined reported a negative impact on the operational effectiveness, operation readiness, or cohesion of the force,” said political scientist Agnes Gereben Schaefer, who co-wrote the study.
But the Family Research Council and along with other evangelical Christians have bend Trump’s ear to their hate and bigotry.



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