“Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness” is the title of an Executive Order signed by President Trump last month. Among the many orders issued by Trump, this one starkly contrasts the American ideal and the lengths a power-obsessed individual will go to disenfranchise a minority group. The order explicitly lays the foundation to dismantle the existence of transgender service members. The issue of gender has become one of the most polarizing for the current administration, uniting the extreme right around a common enemy: trans-Americans. While issues such as bathrooms, sports and gender markers have plagued this group, this order is among the most shameful.
“Gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life,” states the order in Section 1. “A man’s assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honor this falsehood, is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member,” it further states.
The right to self-identify as a woman, man, or non-binary individual is not a new battle, but the idea of stripping the right to serve one’s nation is a chilling attack from within our government. The selflessness of choosing to serve our country is exclusive to those who possess the unimaginable bravery to sign their name and commit to national defense—a commitment that unites individuals under one front to defend freedom. That inalienable right is now forcibly stripped from transgender Americans.
Patriotism is often argued to be dwindling within American society. The flip-flopping nature of elections has made patriotism a game of “whose side are you on?” One could argue that patriotism is the last battle of American unity, with veterans as the frontlines—a group who believes so strongly in the American ideal that life is a price they were willing to pay for its prosperity. Our veterans are unified in a way the rest of us should be, as the last beacon of true American pride, bonded by the blood of battle and forever fused together by the memory of those who paid the ultimate price.
“My being transgender has no bearing on my dedication to the mission, my commitment to my unit, or my ability to perform my duties in accordance with the high standards expected of me and every servicemember,” said Nicolas Talbot, a trans-man servicemember, to NBC News. “When you put on the uniform, differences fall away and what matters is your ability to do the job,” Talbot added.
The left is not immune to criticism. “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) was a policy enacted by President Clinton in 1993, barring LGBTQ service members from openly identifying their orientation. Those who did, or were discovered as, faced dishonorable discharge. The ramifications of this policy persist today, as many veterans are still fighting to have “dishonorable” removed from their records. This classification tainted their legacies and blocked them from receiving VA benefits. President Obama repealed DADT in 2010.
The signature now enforcing this executive order belongs to a self-identified man who has never signed an enlistment form—whose nepotism allowed him to dodge the Vietnam draft citing (alleged) bone spurs. The current commander-in-chief is no hero. That title belongs to the service members who voluntarily risk their lives to defend a nation that, in many cases, refuses to defend them in return.
The right to be recognized as a hero is not enshrined in a document, nor is it forced upon civilians. It is a shared feeling of gratitude toward those who protect and defend us. It moves us to profoundly proclaim them our heroes—an honor we bestow on them with every bit of our own patriotism in unsolicited forms. When civilian faith in the system is broken, we must only look to service members and their shared faith that America has always been great and worthy of their defense. They see something in our nation that, at times, is hard for us to see or understand.
Dignity lies in the identity of all heroes, regardless of how our heroes choose to identify. We must ask: Where is the dignity of our current President to deny anyone the human right to defend our nation?
