The VA has a new directive on the treatment of Transgender Veterans, BUT they won’t release it. This is becoming a theme with the Obama Administration. Tell LGBT people that their issues are important then do nothing to make them a reality. Transgender veterans have decided not to be quiet about this issue any longer.

First, a little history. In January of 2003, the Transgender American Veterans Association was formed with the primary mission to work with the Department of Veteran Affairs to have their medical facilities treat transgender people with dignity and respect.

(Break)

In 2008, TAVA created a survey where 827 transgender veterans gave us information on all kinds of issues, especially their treatment at the VA. One third of those who took the survey had used a VA medical facility at one time of another. More than twenty percent of them had been mistreated by staff members, other patients, nurses and even doctors. The survey ended on May 1, 2008, and the raw data became public record. The Palm Center put out the White Papers in August.

TAVA was told by a VA insider that the raw data from the survey had reached the Veterans Health Administration, the medical department of the VA, and in June of 2008, they began drafting a directive to rectify the problem. In March of 2009 (after the Obama Administration took over,) the VHA sent a draft of their proposed directive to a few VA medical facilities for review by their transgender veterans. They didn’t contact TAVA or NCTE on this. The draft had misinformation, inaccuracies, incorrect descriptions and disrespectful definitions. It looked bad.

TAVA spent the next month communicating with some of the new people in the VA, some of whom had previous experience with transgender people and their medical issues. They agreed that the problem of mistreatment of transgender veterans needed to be fixed. TAVA felt hopeful that these new people now leading the VA would help us.

In May of 2009, the VHA sent a draft of their proposed directive, called “Providing Healthcare for Transgender and Intersex Veterans,” to NCTE to have them be the point organization in assuring the directive’s language looked correct in every way. With the help of trans lawyers and TAVA, NCTE put together a wonderful directive that would greatly improve how transgender veterans will be treated. The VA received our corrected version in July of 2009.

What the directive does cover is all the things that are available to other veterans, such as psychotherapy for PTSD, mammograms, prostate exams, pap smears and other important medical services, which had been denied to many transgender veterans in the past. This directive does indeed ensure that transgender veterans will be treated with dignity and respect.

I will not show the entire directive, because it may not be the final version. It has three pages total, with one page of definitions, a half page of references and the rest covering what the VA can and cannot do for transgender veterans. The language we will show you is from the draft of the directive we sent to the VHA and may have some tweaking before they release it. Sounds like we stepped into the ENDA territory.

Here are some of the important parts as they appeared in the revised draft:

– This directive does not apply to patients who receive benefits under the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA).
– A diagnosis of Gender Identity Disorder (GID) is not a pre-condition for receiving care consistent with the Veteran’s self-identified gender.
– All staff, including medical and administrative staff, are required to treat as confidential any information about a patient’s transgender status or any treatment related to a patient’s gender transition, unless the patient has given permission to share this information.
– Diversity awareness training, (which educates staff on providing unbiased, respectful care to ALL Veterans) is available to supervisors and employees.

The following has to be said in bold capital letters for the good of those who will try to spread lies about this new directive. “THE DIRECTIVE SAYS THAT THE VA WILL NOT, DOES NOT AND CANNOT COVER SEX REASSIGNMENT/GENDER RECONSTRUCTION SURGERY.” That particular restriction is written into the Public Law that the VA has to follow in order to provide health care for veterans. It cannot be overridden by a simple directive change. However, it might be affected by other recent federal rulings. We’ll have to see.

As I stated, the VHA received our changes in July. They told us we would see it come out in August . . . then October . . . then February . . . and here it is May, a year from when we started making the changes, and still no directive.

To those LGBT people fighting for the repeal of DADT and the passage of ENDA, does this sound familiar? The difference is that this is not something Congress has to vote on. It’s a directive that can be implemented in a heartbeat and not a law that takes time to pass the House and the Senate. What is with the Obama Administration’s VHA when they hold back a simple directive that will instantly help part of the veteran community? I’ll let the conspiracy theorists play with that one. All we ask is to stop sitting on this and put it out to the VA medical facilities. It that so hard?

Since July of last year, when the VA had this directive in their hands, several transgender veterans have contacted TAVA saying that they had been treated badly at the VA, so we know that it could have prevented this if it had been introduced. And, even if these issues happen after implementation of the directive, the veterans would finally have it in hand to give them more clout when talking to the VA Patient Advocate. What is holding up the process? Who in the Administration is preventing this from coming out?

TAVA hasn’t been sitting idle since July. We have faxed a letter to the current DVA Secretary, retired Gen. Eric K. Shinseki and his secretary assured us he read it. Nothing happened. In early March, I personally presented the problem to the top administrator for Rep Joe Sestak, a retired Admiral and a champion for veterans’ rights, and Rep Sestak read the information. Sestak then sent me a letter saying he was “investigating and will respond soon.” Since then, he entered the final stages of a Senate race to replace Senator Arlen Specter and won. We hope to hear from him soon.

Other people have spoken to Representatives and Senators on our behalf, including NCTE, but still nothing happens. We wait for people to do the right thing, while transgender veterans have their basic health care denied. This issue will probably not cause a blip on the LGBT radar, and no one will be handcuffing themselves to the front doors of the DVA building. The transgender veterans will have to go it alone on this, as they have all along. The directive will eventually come out. We just hope it’ll be sooner than later.

Seems that the subject of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell has gotten hotter than a dark-colored car in a Phoenix summer. Straight media, straight bloggers, gay media and gay bloggers have all chimed in with their opinions, comments and condemnations of this very discriminatory law. It all started when President Obama said he wanted to repeal DADT during his State of the Union Speech.

The Palm Center in Santa Barbara, CA sent out a list of “recommendations” on what they can do to help the Pentagon Working Group on gays in the military work this issue out smoothly. They are:

• Consulting existing literature as a roadmap;
• Assessing the Impact on Unit Cohesion Properly;
• Consulting troops for relevant information rather than to ask their permission for reform;
• Sending study teams to Britain, Israel, Australia, and Canada; Using an appropriate standard for assessing the likely impact of change;
• Consulting research on the timing of implementation;
• Noting that leadership and consistency are more important than second-order effects; and
• Correcting for biases introduced by “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

This looks to be a very good plan of action, but notice something is missing.

Through all of this, a part of the LGB**T** community gets intentionally left out. Once again, the Trans American Veterans Association will raise their voices to not only say that trans people should be allowed to serve openly, but will insist upon it.

Of course, this has never been a popular stance with gay and lesbian people who want to claim that because DADT only covers “sexual orientation” and that trans people are not affected by the law. (Could someone please bring out that dead horse again?) Let me remind those whose reality is something akin to what Alice saw in Wonderland. We have records, as does SLDN, of straight and asexual trans people who have been harassed under DADT and kicked out. And, as was pointed out in previous articles, trans people can be gay, lesbian or bisexual. DADT AFFECTS TRANS PEOPLE, TOO.

As I have said countless times in the past, the military has no concept of the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity. To them, a heterosexual crossdresser is gay. A person who wishes to live the rest of their lives different from their birth sex, no matter who they are attracted, is gay. They only care about exercising their right to the legalized bigotry that DADT gives them.

Now, I’m hearing other trans people spouting defeatist attitudes toward ever seeing trans people serving openly in the military. Guess what. Some already have. We have passed onto SLDN several people who were allowed to start their transition before getting out. They used this information to help other trans people who were being forced out under DADT. Some even legally changed their name before getting out, assuring their DD-214 would have their new name. Another individual was called back to active duty AFTER she completed her transition and reported to SAC Headquarters during the first Gulf War. They had no problem with her change.

We have also pointed out that trans and trans-like people have served in every war this country has fought, since the beginning. It has been estimated that there are between 200,000 and 300,000 living trans veterans in the US today.

Add to all of this, Canada, Great Britain, Israel and Thailand are known to allow all trans people to serve openly. Australia and Spain allow only their trans men to serve openly. As been pointed out in the past, Canada allowed trans people to serve BEFORE allowing gay, lesbian and bisexual people could serve. The wheel has long since been invented for this.

We are also hearing the “hermaphrodite scare” cycling through the hatemonger organizations. “We can’t have hermaphrodites serving in the military!” Ah . . . reality check time. They’re already there.

According to medical science and the figures collected by the Intersex Society of North America, one in 500 people on planet Earth have some form of intersex condition. With 1.47 million active duty troops and another 1.46 million in the reserves, there are nearly six-thousand people in uniform who are intersexed. Seems the Pentagon is not too worried about this, so why should the rest of us be?

If the military wanted to weed out all intersex individuals, they would have to perform expensive special tests and medical exams by experts in the field. One of the tests would be to check the sex chromosomes on all three million service members. In the civilian world, that can cost somewhere around $800 dollars each. That would come to a total addition to the Defense Budget of another $2.344 billion dollars. Of course, in a military world famous for $1500 toilet seats and $700 hammers, you think they will pay only $800 for each test? Seems to be a hefty amount of tax dollars to spend on placating the hate mongers’ “concerns.”

And, we also heard the “bigotry-for-profit” groups hollering, “If we let gays serve in the military, we’ll have soldiers wearing dresses!” This is obviously coming from people who have never served in the military and have no concept of military rules and regulations. You see, the military has these clothing things called “uniforms.” It’s been sort-of a tradition with militaries since . . . oh say . . . before the ancient Egyptians.

Militaries today get real testy if a person is even slightly “out of uniform.” They are not noted for having a sense of humor when it comes to this. The military goes so far as to regulate size and type of earrings women can wear. Men cannot wear any earrings. So, the people who think male soldiers will get to wear dresses on a whim are doing nothing but instilling fear in the uneducated masses so they can convince them to send money to fight this scourge. The “bigotry-for-profit” groups are sending their children to college off the hard-earned money of ordinary Americans. It’s a scam worthy of the snake-oil salesmen in the old West.

Interesting enough, since DADT doesn’t have “gender identity of expression” in the language, it means that it doesn’t prevent trans people from serving in the military. For the most part, there are just policies and rules keeping trans people out of the military. President Obama may not be able to overturn DADT with an Executive Order, but he may be able to use one to allow trans people a chance to serve openly.

However, I doubt that any of the mostly-gay organizations would lift a finger to lobby the White House for that if it was proven possible. The incremental mindset many of the people running those organizations would not allow trans people to get something before gays and lesbians do. At least not in the good ‘ol U-S of A.

But, as we can all guess, President Obama will not be willing to spend one thin dime of his political capital to issue such an Executive Order. It becomes a moot point.

Here’s what trans people will face if they serve in the military or try to join after DADT is repealed. There is a policy in place preventing trans people from enlisting, and all the reasons the military used to kick them out before DADT will come back into play. Some uneducated commanders will think that because DADT has been repealed, their trans troops will be allowed to serve. I’m sure there will be people there to set them straight.

I feel that the repeal of DADT will put the wheels in motion to a day when trans people will be allowed to serve openly. This will not be an easy process, but if people are willing to stop throwing their hands in the air and giving up, then these rules can be changed. The trans community needs to work together with allies and ignore the perennial naysayers and those with a defeatist attitude that populate our community.

The repeal of DADT will not send intersex people to their recruiters in droves to sign up. And, if they did, so what? They have already served in honor. The repeal will not force male soldiers to wear dresses, regardless of what the hate mongers say. The repeal will take a tiny bit of pressure off of the trans troops, but they will still have to hide.

Even if trans people got the chance to serve openly, most would never tell anyone about being trans. The stigma that society has put on trans people would not be erased in an accepting US military, anymore then it does with trans people working in an accepting company. There will be a lot of work ahead of us if trans people want to serve openly in the military. We will never know if we can fix it if we don’t try.

American Veterans For Equal Rights president Danny Ingram and Transgender American Veterans Association president Monica Helms have made a joint YouTube video appeal to President Obama and Congress to Lift the Ban on LGBT military service by repealing Dont Ask Dont Tell.

On this Veterans Day, as President Obama considers sending more patriotic American troops to Afghanistan, AVER and TAVA remind the President of his campaign promise to repeal DADT.

Send the link to others and your Congressional reps.  Here is the video:

Monica Helms, transsexual Navy veteran

Editor’s note: First Person is a series of commentaries that give voice to those not commonly heard in Atlanta media.

After growing up a “typical boy,” marrying “the one” and fathering two children, Monica Helms finally acted on a lifelong desire to become a woman.

Sometime around the age of 4 or 5, I knew something was different about me. I was raised Catholic and you’re supposed to pray to God for things. So I prayed to God to turn me into a girl. I finally got to do it 41 years later, so I guess for God that’s like overnight delivery.

Several things slowed down my process of becoming a woman. I was the typical boy. I can honestly say that I was a tomboy in a boy’s body. I had loving parents and we always did things together, so I didn’t have time for a lot of introspective thinking. And I was the oldest child, so I didn’t have an older sister to emulate or to be jealous of. I was always attracted to women, so that was another part that didn’t clue me in. So there were a lot of things that got in the way of me realizing what I was.

(Break)

I started cross-dressing in 1974, right smack-dab in the middle of my Navy career when I was based in Charleston. It was the deepest, darkest secret in my entire life. I would tell someone that I’d murdered someone before I’d tell someone I cross-dressed. It was scary, because I knew that if I got caught I would get kicked out. So all I did then was dress up at home. Then I got transferred to the Bay Area in 1976, and I had a little more accessibility to a community that was just ready to explode. Talk about stepping out of your boundaries into a whole new world! When I started cross-dressing and going to the gay clubs, I felt like I could be out in public as myself.

I got out of the Navy in 1978 and went to junior college, where I met my wife.  I just knew that she was “the one,” but I couldn’t ask her to marry me until I told her about my cross-dressing. So I told her, and I thought she understood. It wasn’t until later that I realized she didn’t. Later on, she denied that I told her. When she caught me cross-dressing, she just went ballistic. We had two sons together.

It took me until 1987 to realize that not only was I a cross-dresser, but I was transsexual. When I told my parents that I wanted to transition, my mother looked at me and said, “I only wish you were just gay.” My father had diabetes and Alzheimer’s and he wasn’t in that great of shape. My mother insisted that I not see him ever again. So I lived five miles from the house that I grew up in and I couldn’t even go in the house. I’d drive by and I’d see my father out in the yard and my mother outside.

I didn’t start transitioning until 1992, when I started taking hormones. I started living full time as a woman in 1997. My wife and I separated and then got a legal divorce the next year. I moved from Arizona to Atlanta in 2000. I quickly got involved in activism and became the executive director of Trans=Action, Georgia’s trans advocacy organization, and became a member of the Pride Parade’s color guard. In 2003, I co-founded the Transgender American Veterans Association and later became the first transgender person from Georgia to be a delegate for the Democratic National Convention.

In 2004, my father was dying. I was waiting in an airport to take a flight out there and I got a call from my son saying that my father had just died. So I never got to look into his eyes and tell him that I loved him to his face.

My mother and I now have been much better. The relationship with my sons has been rocky and then good, then rocky and then good. When my oldest son joined the Marines and got out of boot camp, our relationship was a lot better because I was in the military, so that brought us closer together. My youngest son and I have always had some problems, but I think it’s a little better now. He’s the father of my only grandchild.

Both of my sons are married to Hispanic women, which I find very cool. My wife and I were very good about accepting diversity, at least diversity in race. My wife wasn’t so good about diversity in gender identity issues. My sons had friends of all different races throughout the course of their lives, and that is one of the things that I’m very proud of.

There’s a lot of humor in this life — a heck of a lot of it that people don’t seem to understand. Last year I was in California for my oldest son’s wedding, so you can imagine what that was like. “Um, this is my dad, Monica.” We’ve got CNN on our television at work and stories about people like Chaz Bono might come up, and there’s all sorts of discussion — and they turn to me and ask me questions about this stuff. I find it interesting that I can help educate my co-workers. They treat me with respect.

There are quite a few misconceptions about transsexual people. A lot of people think that a person who wants to dress up as a woman is gay. That’s a big misconception. Gender identity has nothing to do with your sexual orientation. There are transsexuals who are homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual, pansexual and asexual. There are drag queens who are not gay.

There is blatant discrimination against transgender people, especially in Georgia. Employers will tell you, “We’re not going to hire you, because you’re a freak.” And they can get away with it. The state of Georgia doesn’t care. That’s why we need a national law.

It’s been over 12 years that I’ve been living as Monica. When I finally accepted and believed that I was a woman, I became a lot more confident in myself, and it made a big difference in a lot of other things that I do. You just reach a point where you can live your life like you would want to, no matter what.

The impending repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell hangs over Bigot Americans like a specter of doom that will reach biblical proportions. In other words, they lack a strong grip on reality. They will do anything it takes to instill fear on the unknowing masses, stopping short of predicting the coming of The Rapture. Well, maybe they won’t stop short of that.

In this endless process of misinformation and out-and-out lies, the one part of the LGBT community that they like pointing to in order to generate the most fear are transgender people. They will always gravitate to the worn-out, standard line from the Bigot’s Handbook (Volume 17, 5^th Edition, page 963,) “Men in dresses.” If all else fails, they can always throw out “Men in dresses,” even if it has nothing to do with transgender people. To Bigot Americans, ALL gay men wear dresses. That’s BS to the max. Hell, I know several trans women and lesbians who wouldn’t be caught dead in a dress.

Let me show the important points in this latest round of lies that the BAs like to gloss over or don’t wish people to know about.

(Break)

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell does not cover gender identity or expression.

It should have, but sadly it doesn’t. No one thought that transgender people actually served in the military. The possibility was too outrageous to everyone, including gays and lesbians. They forgot about Christine Jorgensen. We were nothing more than an after thought once again.

The military thinks that anyone who wishes to change their sex is automatically gay. However, transsexuals will still be subjected to discharge under different rules after DADT becomes history. Also, any man caught crossdressing off duty will be subjected to these same rules.

I’m wondering if anyone could dodge the bullet on this by saying they were gay and pointed out that DADT has been repealed. Some may get away with it if they have a stupid commander, but I wouldn’t recommend this path. It could catch up to them later. The best bet would be to have the Department of Defense address this issue separately so transgender people can also serve openly, like they can in six other countries.

Military people wear standard uniforms.

All I can say to this is “DUH!” We have an all-volunteer military, so everyone serving asked for that job. If a person takes a job, then they follow the rules set down in the workplace. Plane and simple. Besides the military, many other jobs require a person to wear a uniform. If you do the work, then you dress the part. Men will NOT be wearing dresses while on duty. Reality is not a Korean War sitcom.

In all the state and local jurisdictions where laws have been passed to protect transgender people in employment – some going back to the early 1990s – there has not been one case where a man came to work wearing a dress and got fired. Workplaces have dress codes that are gender specific, so if a person wants to keep their job, then they will follow these guidelines. However, dress codes should not be used as a weapon to prevent transsexuals from transitioning. It would be the same in the military.

The area where Bigot Americans seem to have a problem pertains to a transsexual who begins living full time in their target gender. The BAs insist that no one can change their sex, so transsexuals should be considered “men in dresses.” What about “women in pants” when it comes to FtMs? I don’t seem to hear that bantered around much.

Luckily, a good portion of large corporations and many smaller companies now understand the process and allow their transsexual employees to wear the gender specific clothing or uniforms appropriate for their new gender. So, that means that if a male-to-female transsexual is allowed to transition in the military, they would not be considered “men in dresses.” Corporations already have a handle on that and so would the military.

Some gays and lesbians refuse to discuss transgender people in the military.

The Transgender American Veterans Association has heard over and over and over that when DADT gets brought up, transgender people have to be left out. When this first came up, the excuse we heard was, “DADT only covers sexual orientation.” TAVA knew that transgender people had been targeted and discharged under DADT, but without any proof, the ones protecting the integrity of the wording in the Military Readiness Enhancement Act could easily blow us off. The specter of “men in dresses” scares them as much as it does the Bigot Americans.

But, the excuse given to keep us from being covered has now been proven to be nothing more than smoke and mirrors. I have to keep bringing up the TAVA Survey, because the facts can no longer be ignored. We have the proof of what we have been saying all along, but the guardians of the bill still will not listen. Their “baby” has grown up to a whole new world and it needs to reflect that new world.

What is wrong with creating a whole new bill that allows all LGB AND T people to serve openly, instead of just repealing the existing law? The new bill covering all of us would not only trump the existing law, thus repealing it, but allow for transgender people to serve openly in the military. When the legislators originally wrote the bill, we had a Republican-controlled government, so they went for the bare bone. We now have a government who will pass a more comprehensive bill, so why are the gay and lesbians working on this issue still running scared? I’ll tell you why. “Men in dresses.”

As I stated above, six countries allow transgender people to serve openly. Canada, UK, Israel, and Thailand allow all of their transgender people to serve, whereas Australia and Spain allow FtM transsexuals to serve openly. If they have figured it out, then I would hope that America is smart enough to also figure it out. But, the truth of the matter has nothing to do with “figuring it out.” The legislators sponsoring this bill and the gays and lesbians pushing for it lack the will power to do the right thing. Because other countries have figured this out without any problems, then we won’t be inventing the wheel. Too bad some people feel scared of doing the right thing.

Reality check on transgender people in the military.

Who are the idiots out there who think that just because a person identifies as being trans, they can’t control themselves and have to dress in women’s clothes on duty, as if they had some form of “fashion terrett syndrome?” From personal experience and from knowing hundreds of other transgender veterans, they have far more control over their gender issues then the hundreds of men who can’t control their urge to commit rape.

Some, not all, transgender military people (specifically MtF) will crossdress off duty, off base, when on liberty or leave. They shouldn’t be penalized for this. When they go back to duty, they will make sure no evidence, regardless of how small it could be, will be left on their bodies. They would not shave their legs or body hair, but would never grow a beard unless being at sea for many months, or in a war zone. Their clothes would be tucked away at a civilian friend’s house, a bus station locker, in the trunk of their car, or any other place where no one in the military would find them. Conversely, FtM military people could get away with looking as butch as possible, both on and off duty. Still, that doesn’t protect them from the DADT wolves.

Up until the 1990s and the extensive use of the Internet, transgender people in the military did not have a lot to go on when it came to the feelings they had. Most thought that no one else in the world felt like them. They knew of Renee Richards, Wendy Carlos and Christine Jorgensen, but could not be sure if their life needed to go in that direction. Many joined the military so it could “make a man out of them,” but that didn’t work. During the Vietnam Era, some join to have the Viet Cong “take care of their problem,” but instead, they came home with the same “problem’ and new ones to boot. No matter why they joined, their secret would be one they would take to their grave. The “men in dresses” BS that Bigot Americans like tossing out would be the last thing they would ever think of.

Looking back on my time in the military, I remember one thing that makes me still smile today when I think about it. When out on patrol on a submarine, we knew the very day we would return, like clockwork. In the middle of the patrol, we would have what we called, “Halfway Night.” During the celebration, we would have contests, some would sing or play guitars, I played a kazoo and others would do skits. Inevitably, there was always one person who just so happened to have all the necessary items to dress as a woman for a skit. Looking back at that, I now understand why.

The subject of gays in the military will not be put to rest, even after DADT is repealed. There will always be Americans who will never accept this, even if a decade passes without incident. A transgender person serving openly is another subject all together, yet we can serve just as well as gay, lesbian, bisexual and straight people can. The military has set rules for uniforms, so even a transitioning transsexual will be required to dress appropriately for their new gender. And, if six other countries can do this, then so can we.

Transgender people have enough problems bucking the system on this issue without having our gay and lesbian friends make fun of us or intentionally hold us back because of being afraid that we would upset the delicate senses of the legislators. We see yet another situation where transgender people are being told, “We’ll come back for you later.” Too bad, but “later” is NOW, and we have all the proof to show why. Take your heads out of the sand and let’s do the right thing for once. And, don’t let me ever hear a gay man or lesbian use “men in dresses” when talking about transgender people in the military, even if it’s in a joking manner.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote “Transgender Veterans articles and navigating the VA system,” about the two wonderful articles written by Carol Ann Alaimo of the Arizona Daily Star and my attempt to find a person in the VA to speak with about our issues. The article appeared on two blogs, The Bilerico Project, and Trans Universe. It seems our efforts to speak with someone of authority paid off. On Friday, March 6, Angela Brightfeather and I spoke with a female doctor in a high position in the VA. I will not reveal her name or title at this time, nor will I provide any specifics of what she said, because this is an ongoing process.

Angela and I prepared to ask certain question, but as many of you may know, it doesn’t always work as planned. When we connected with the doctor, she had brought in another doctor to speak with us. We quickly discovered that both women had extensive experiences with transgender people in their days working in the field for the VA. They actually volunteered to be the first ones in the VA to speak with us.

(Break)

One of the first issues we talked about had to do with the discrimination transgender veterans get when trying to receive basic services and the disrespect they get when they do receive services. Our request was to have the VA send out a directive/letter to the VA administrators, informing them that they cannot turn away qualified transgender veterans and that they should receive the same respect as other veterans.

The doctors pointed out that even with a letter being sent out, without the proper training, the disrespect could continue. We understood this, but pointed out that if a letter existed, then our people could take a copy of it to the Patient Advocate in the facility and use it to give their complaint more clout. The doctor saw that our idea could help and stated that she would have the appropriate department contact us on the content of the letter.

We briefly brought up that in some cases, the VA refused to change a transgender veteran’s documentation, even after a legal name and gender change. The doctor stated that this practice is not only wrong, but legally wrong. The same department who will be able to help us on the discrimination issue will also be able to address this one.

The doctor stated that she would be attending various Patient Advocate training sessions and she plans on training them on our issues. TAVA will be assisting them when possible. We informed her that she can also get help in training from the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) and the International Foundation for Gender Education (IFGE.) What it appears they will need is the basic Transgender 101 training, something we have all done many times. Both NCTE and IFGE now have wonderful knowledge on our veterans’ issues.

Then the conversation turned to the policies that for so long have hindered transgender veterans from receiving the medically necessary treatment for their situation. Angela and I discovered that even though these are policies and not laws, the ability to change them will be a long and tedious process that could take years. After hearing how the process will work, I came to the conclusion that passing a fully inclusive ENDA will be far easier then wading through the massive bureaucracy of the VA system.

TAVA may soon come away with a small win in this long struggle for equality for our transgender veterans if we get the letter we are looking for. The bigger win will be a process that only has few people willing to spend any time in resolving the problems, compared to millions who will be pushing for hate crimes and ENDA. Our organization has very little money to work on this and even less time to spend on it. No full-time lobbyist works for TAVA. No fundraising events or huge gala dinners loom in our future. All we have is the basics and grassroots activism. This maybe enough, but we could use some serious help in moving this process along, seeing how we are now inside the door. Sadly, there are too many deaf ears out there that this plea will fall on. We will keep everyone informed on our progress. It would be nice if this first step has given some of our veterans a glimmer of hope. It has me.

For the first time since the Transgender American Veterans Association existed, a mainstream print media has dedicated an extensive amount of space to present the stories of transgender veterans and the problems they face. In a two-part series, journalist Carol Ann Alaimo spent over three weeks of interviews, research and education to come up with this two-article, 3500 word essay on our veterans.

Alaimo, the military journalist for Tucson’s Arizona Daily Star, told me that she got interested in transgender veterans when she discovered the TAVA web site and read the survey we did last year. From there, she found transgender veterans in Tucson and spoke with many of them.

I am absolutely impressed with all the work she put into the two articles. As Sunday came to a close, there were already over 150 comments on her first article. By the end of Monday, the second article had nearly 200 comments. Then we also found the articles appearing on Military.com, with equally number of comments.

(Break)

Some veterans seem to think that if we transitioned AFTER serving in the military that somehow gives the VA the right to deny us services. They brought up Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) as a way to justify this. The UCMJ and DADT only apply to those people who currently serve in the military and have nothing to with veterans or the VA. Talk about grasping at straws to justify discrimination and hate.

First Article: “Transgender vets a hidden population,” February 22, 2009.

In this article, Alaimo focused on the people she interviewed, one of them being a friend or mine, Erin Russ. She pointed out all of the problems Erin has encountered, problems we all have faced at one time or another. Here is a quote from Erin that made a strong point.

“This is something I think nobody wants to talk about,” said Russ, 52. “Transgender veterans basically make other people rethink their preconceived ideas of what a veteran is. We don’t just push the envelope — we crumple it up and throw it away.”

Alaimo follows with:

Mocked by strangers and often shortchanged by the veteran’s health-care system, these ex-troops say they get little of the respect accorded to those they served alongside.

She also sites a study titled “Transsexuals in the Military: Flight Into Hypermasculinity,” written in 1988 by Dr. George R. Brown, then an Air Force captain and psychiatrist at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.  She also sites the Boston VA policy as being one of the most comprehensive documents from a VA facility in regards to transgender veterans.

One of the most compelling stories was that of Mick Andoso, a trans man who served 20 years and became a decorated Master Sgt. in the Air Force.  In 1994, Master Sgt. Brenda Weichelt was named one of the service’s top airmen for her work at the military’s Defense Language Institute in California.  Since then, Mick Andoso has had nothing but scorn and disrespect by many VA personnel.  Transgender veterans see this as typical treatment in our VA system.

Second Article: “VA reviewing policy against transsexual surgery,” February 23, 2009.

The second article had some interesting information from Alaimo, some of which has already been disseminated to our veterans, such as the Boston VA policy.  She interviewed Dr. Jillian Shipherd who actually created the policy in Boston.

Here is some of what Alaimo found in her research:

Officials at VA headquarters, given 10 business days to answer, said they couldn’t determine how many transgender patients are in the VA system nationwide.

 

Officials at the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System — Tucson’s veterans hospital — said 48 VA patients in Southern Arizona are transsexual or have been diagnosed at some point with “gender-identity disorder,” the medical term that covers such cases.

 

A national advocacy group (TAVA) estimates that about 300,000 active or retired military personnel are transgender, though experts say an accurate count is impossible because many live under the radar to escape social stigma. 

Alaimo then spoke with someone at the VA to ask them why the VA doesn’t follow the American Medical Association’s policy toward transsexual people.

“VA is in the process of rewriting its directive excluding gender-reassignment surgery and will be conducting a review of the evidence base on this issue,” VA spokesman Terry Jemison said. “The current policy may continue or may change, but our decision will be based on the available evidence, not on the AMA’s resolution.”

 

The American Medical Association said many surgeries that help transgender patients — such as removal of breasts, testicles or ovaries — are routinely covered for other patients for various medical reasons.

 

Denying such coverage to transgender people “represents discrimination based solely on a patient’s gender identity,” the doctors group said. 

What Jemison said hit us all like a rock.  The VA is actually reviewing the policy on gender reconstruction surgery?  This sounded like great news . . . until we realized that they have been reviewing the policy WITHOUT contacting any transgender person or organization.  Both TAVA and NCTE have not been made aware of this.

In order to find out who in the VA could be doing the review, I called the man whom Alaimo spoke with, Terry Jemison.  To find him, I had to call the main VA number in DC and they gave me his number.  I left him a voice message and the next day, Tuesday, 2/24/09, I got a call from him.  Jemison works in the Office of Public Affairs.

The first subject I brought up had to do with the statement he made to Alaimo when she pointed out to him that according to the TAVA survey of 2008, 10% of the transgender veterans who used the VA have at one time been turned away for being trans and 25 % have experienced disrespect by VA people.  Some of those stated that they had their medical records shown to people not involved in their case, a strict violation of The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, (HIPAA) Privacy Rule.  In the article, he stated:

Jemison, the national VA spokesman, said the VA “does not condone withholding delivery of routine medical care for transgender patients anywhere in our system.” 

At first, he said to me that those who have been turned away may not have been qualified for VA medical service.  I quickly pointed out the case of a 100% disabled trans man who got out on a Medical Discharge, went to the DC facility and was turned away, only to drive 60 miles north to the Baltimore VA and received treatment.  He couldn’t respond to that.  Then he gave me a toll-free number, 800-488-8244 for the Office of Patient Care Service, telling me that if anyone had a problem or were being disrespected, they needed to call that number.  As far as TAVA is concerned, the VA needs to address the issue overall rather than addressing it one person at a time.  It would make more sense to have a directive pertaining to our veterans.  But, our government never makes much sense.

Then I brought up the policy review and he said that the people doing the review would be in the same Office of Patient Care Services.  He stated that he would pass on my name and number to the people at that location and they will call me.  The Office of Public Affairs did not have the authority to change policy.

To see what I would get by dialing the toll-free number, I called to hear a series of options.  I could not determine what option our people had to use in order to file a complaint, but I could have missed it.

Not one to give up easily, I called Virginia Copland, the Secretary for the VA Secretary, Gen. Eric K. Shinseki.  She and I had spoken before on other issues, before Obama took office, so she gave me a couple of other phone numbers to try.  At one number the person worked in the VA Statistics Dept, which could not help me, but he gave me another number to try.  I then asked him if he would do a study on how many transgender people use the VA, but he didn’t seem interested.

I tried a number for the VA’s General Council and left my name and concerns with the receptionist there.  A few hours later, I received a call from Eric Raun, an attorney for the VA and we discussed the issues.  Raun had also spoken with Terry Jemison about this and stated that the people who would be revising the transgender veterans health policy work for the Veterans Health Administration and Jemison will have someone from there give me a call.  They happen to be the same people who can address the discrimination and disrespect problems facing transgender veterans.

Q-Notes Person of the Year: Angela Brightfeather

by Q-Notes Staff | December 27th, 2008

From her humble home in North Carolina to the doorsteps of national organizations and the halls of Congress, there’s no doubt that Angela Brightfeather has done her part this year.

If there were issues to be discussed, if the transgender community needed an advocate or if the transgender community was being ignored, Brightfeather stepped up.

The 63-year-old transgender leader and activist is a legend — she’s been involved in advocacy work since she was in her 20s; and she’s certainly not afraid of ruffling feathers.

(Break)

“Anybody who challenges the establishment is going against the flow,” she told Q-Notes. “When you do that, you become the ultimate activist. You become the one that pushes too hard, that wants everybody to take a lead, the one who wants to really change things.”

Shaking up the establishment seems to have come easy to her. Since the most recent controversy over transgender inclusion in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) in late 2007, Brightfeather has taken on high-profile leadership among her transgender brothers and sisters. In February 2008, she helped to organize a friendly protest — characterized as an “outreach” — to dinner guests at the Human Rights Campaign Carolinas Gala in Charlotte.

But her work isn’t just local. As vice president of the Transgender American Veterans Association (TAVA), Brightfeather has worked diligently to see the needs of transgender servicemembers met with dignity and equality.

TAVA’s biggest battle has been securing equal and fair healthcare treatment for transgender, former servicemembers at government-run VA hospitals.

“We’ve just been able to establish a connection at the VA that might allow us to meet with Gen. Shinseki,” Brightfeather said, referring to Obama’s new pick for VA secretary. “It’s a dream come true to think of sitting down with the director of the VA to tell him our needs and where we are being discriminated against.”

Among the group’s accomplishments this year are a highly succesful survey of transgender servicemembers and veterans and joint work with the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network on the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

“We’d also like to be able to work on being able to march in the veteran’s parade in Washington, D.C. next year,” Brightfeather said. “We’d be the first transgender group to march in that parade.”

Brightfeather was born in London to bi-national parents and was declared a U.S. citizen soon after birth. Just months afterward, her family moved to New York state. Her introduction to Southern living came only a few short years ago, when she moved to North Carolina. But in the time she’s been here, Brightfeather has managed to make a difference both locally and nationally, becoming a fundamental part of Carolina transgender organizing and a vital leader and activist in the greater LGBT community.

With her leadership comes a sense of urgency and toughness. Unafraid to say it just like she feels it, Brightfeather’s learned to lead and speak from the heart and from the passion that’s kept her involved for decades.

It is with great pride that the staff of Q-Notes names Angela Brightfeather our 2008 Person of the Year.

In her own words

On gender…
“It just hit me, it makes more sense to think that people pick their gender before they pick their sexuality…That should be the natural flow of things.”

“Like a lot of people, I thought if I get married it would go away. But it didn’t go away. After 10 years it hadn’t gone away.”

On Prop. 8 and ENDA…
“The ENDA fight was very much like Prop. 8. You all were included and then all of a sudden someone came along and said, ‘No, you aren’t.’”

“With Prop. 8, gay people are going through exactly what we felt after being cut out of ENDA. And, you all are receiving the same backlash the gay community gave us: People are saying you are acting like terrorists. The gay and lesbian community was saying the same thing about the transgender community: You’re all hateful and aggressive.”

On Barney Frank and HRC…
“They [Barney Frank and the Human Rights Campaign] will go whichever way the wind blows politically. If it makes it easier to get legislation through without us, then they’ll do it and throw us under the bus again. There’s nothing that will stop them.”

“As long as our community has different views on inclusion, as politicians HRC and Barney Frank will make use of that division. They are the Karl Roves of the Democratic Party and our community.”

On EqualityNC…
“I love Ian, he’s great. I get along great with him and he’s a tremendous person. I appreciate his work so much, but what I don’t appreciate is some of the people on the board keeping transgender people off the board for this long. I don’t appreciate them not voting unanimously that they will include transgender people in all future legislation.

Monica Helms: A few months back, the Transgender American Veterans Association’s Organizational Liaison, Paula Dee Wright, received a communication from Dr. Judy Rosenstein, civilian instructor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Dr. Rosenstein teaches Social Inequality, a sociology elective, and she asked to have a transgender veteran come and speak to her class.

You can imagine how we felt being presented with the opportunity to speak at the oldest military academy in the United States. Some of our most famous military figures in this country’s history have walked its halls. Never in its 206-year history has an openly transgender person been invited to speak to the cadets, so the invitation to TAVA was a first.

The discussion between board members on how we should proceed focused primarily on finding the perfect person to take on this historical task. We had many in our community who have also spent time in the halls of West Point, but only a few would be able to represent our part of the community in the way that would not only respect West Point and their long traditions, but respect the transgender community. Angela Brightfeather, TAVA’s VP, had the right person in mind.

We asked Allyson Robinson, who graduated from West Point in 1994, to take on this “mission,” and she proudly accepted. However, we made one big request of her. Allyson currently works for HRC as the Associate Director of Diversity and we asked that in this situation, she represent TAVA when she arrived at West Point, even though she was not part of our board. We made the request only because Dr. Rosenstein made the initial contact to us. Because of how important this visit would be, Allyson and HRC had no problem with that.

(Break)

Angela Brightfeather: I make no bones about my dislike of the way HRC has acted towards the transgender community over the last 18 months. While I feel that we do not need them as a part of the Transgender Movement and that we are far better of either ignoring them or just telling them not to do us any favors, that would probably contribute to the schism that has already occurred. I cannot find it in my heart to simply dismiss those transgender people who are associated with them and their commitment to change HRC and the way it does business with our community.

As misguided as some people may seem, there is merit in working for change inside of HRC if at all possible.

The purpose of Allyson Robinson representing TAVA during her visit back to her Alma Mater at West Point, clearly as an example that, as a community, being transgender is much more important than our affiliations with organizations. There is a point where we have to admit that we are involved and activists because we feel we must be part of something larger than ourselves or any one organization. Allyson’s visit proves exactly that point. TAVA and Allyson Robinson allied together, one for the purpose of knowingly and purposefully creating history, and the other, to have a transgender person ready as the best individual to be a part of that history.

In today’s new age of creating unity, new beginnings, changes and reaching across the aisle, TAVA and Allyson decided that West Point needed to learn about our community, which was far more important and painted a far larger picture. This need overshadowed any obstacles regarding group affiliations or things that might have happened in the past, most gratefully sacrificed for new and loftier beginnings.

While some of us can never agree with who Allyson Robinson works for, we all have to admit that she is a transgender person first and foremost, who understands the big picture of our community and will reach across the aisle to help. To us on the outside and who take exception to HRC and the way they treat us, at least we know that transgender people on the outside and on the inside can still respect and work with each other, one, committing to change, and the other communicating what those changes need to be. That is a hopeful situation for all of us that gives little credit for political causes, but gives great credit to being transgender and creating community.

Allyson Robinson:

A native of Scranton, Pa., Allyson Robinson is a 1994 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, where she majored in engineering physics. After an internship at Los Alamos National Laboratory, she was commissioned as an officer in the Army and served with PATRIOT missile units in the United States, Germany and Saudi Arabia. She also worked for NATO as an air defense evaluator and advised the Royal Saudi Air Force on missile defense tactics, techniques and procedures.

Robinson resigned her commission in 1999 to pursue a calling to Christian ministry. After her ordination, she served as pastor-teacher to churches in the Portuguese Azores and in central Texas. Her ministry work focused on raising awareness of systemic poverty and the intersecting systems of oppression that create and sustain it, while working to organize responses to poverty at the local, regional, national and international levels. She earned a master of divinity degree in theology, with a capstone emphasis in social justice, from Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary in 2007.

The following is Allyson Robinson’s report to TAVA on her historical return to West Point:

I arrived at West Point on the evening of November 4, just as election returns were beginning to come in from the states on the eastern seaboard. The timing seemed portentous to me; I felt a bit as though I was riding the leading edge of the wave of change sweeping our nation. But paradoxically, I also felt like I was coming home. I had been back to West Point many times since I graduated in 1994, but not since my transition. To return not as a prodigal, but rather as an honored guest, was meaningful to me in ways that are difficult to put into words. So many transgender people are (formally or informally) disavowed by organizations and institutions that had once embraced them. To know that my alma mater, my “Rockbound Highland Home,” was calling me back with honor was profoundly moving for me.

I arrived on post on the morning of November 5 and presented my identification to the guard at the gate. He asked me what my business was and I replied that I would be guest lecturing in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership. “Do you know your way to Thayer Hall,” he asked as he returned my license to me. “I’m a grad,” I said, “so I know my way around.” He smiled. “Well then, welcome home, Ms. Robinson,” he said, waving me through the gate. I fought back tears as I drove toward the Cadet Area.

It was a beautiful fall morning–sunny, cool, and crisp, with the autumn leaves just past their prime–and so I parked about a mile from Thayer Hall and walked. On my way, I stopped by the post cemetery, as has been my custom for almost 15 years. I couldn’t help but notice how much fuller it has become in just the last few years, with graves of young men and women killed in battle far outnumbering those of older veterans in the newer areas of the cemetery.

I also stopped for a moment at the grave of my West Point roommate, my best friend, who was killed in an accident less than a year after we graduated. After having come out to so many old friends over the last few years, I was so glad that time and fate had conspired to give me the opportunity finally to tell Mark the truth. I know he would have been one of the first to offer me his love and support had he lived–as it was, I felt his love and support as I continued on to the academic area.

I met Dr. Judy Rosenstein in her office about fifteen minutes before my first class was to begin. One of the cadre of civilian instructors in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership, Judy is a great friend to our community and a bold advocate. We had spent a couple of hours on the phone the night before, discussing the ways her cadets had responded to the news I would be coming and brainstorming about what we might expect from them, and so I felt very well prepared as we made our way to the room where the lecture was to be held. When we arrived, much of the class was waiting for us, along with several other faculty who had asked to participate. The chairs were set up in a wide circle, and so I found a seat and waited for the Cadet Section Leader to bring the class to order.

This first section I was teaching was Social Inequality, a sociology elective, and most of the class were Firsties (seniors). One thing that stood out to me immediately as I looked around the room was the ethnic diversity of the cadets, which seemed to be much greater than during my time. The percentage of women also seemed to be a little higher. (Later discussions with faculty confirmed these perceptions as accurate.) After a brief introduction by Judy, I began my lecture.

The cadets were very respectful and engaged, as I expected them to be. There were some who were clearly uncomfortable with the topic, but my teaching style is very conversational and by the time I worked my way through my notes and opened it up for questions, nearly everyone in the room seemed to have gotten over their discomfort.

Their questions ran the gamut of the transgender experience and were very well thought out. That said, they seemed particularly interested in two topics: how my wife and I had preserved our marriage through transition, and how I had been able to justify my transition in light of my faith. (This interest carried over into the second group I taught as well.)

The first focus, on my marriage, seemed natural enough coming from this particular audience; the second, however, seemed out of place. While many cadets in my day were people of faith, far fewer practiced their faith regularly, and I can’t recall a single time that an issue of faith was raised in the classroom.

When I mentioned later this to Colonel Tom Kolditz, the department chair, he shared with me how the spiritual face of the Corps had changed in the fifteen years since I graduated. As our culture has shifted toward tolerance and celebration of diversity, many prospective cadets and their parents have come to see West Point as a bastion of conservative social values–a place where they can be assured of experiencing the kind of social-moral environment they desire.

In Colonel Kolditz’s words, “In previous years, when you’d ask cadets what other schools they had to choose from, you’d hear, ‘Yale, Harvard, and West Point,’ or ‘MIT, CalTech, and West Point.’ Today, you’re just as likely to hear, ‘Liberty University, Wheaton College, and West Point.’” This represents a change that is worrisome to me, but I’m comforted to know that Colonel Kolditz’s department is dedicating itself to exposing cadets to the diverse face of America as it is, rather than allowing them to exist in a cocoon of America as they wish it was.

About half a dozen cadets lingered after our class to ask questions, and after speaking with them, Judy and I made our way to Colonel Kolditz’s office for the meeting I just alluded to. When I entered his office, he got up to greet me, extended his hand, and said, “Welcome home,” the second time I’d heard those words that day.

Our meeting, originally scheduled for 15 minutes, lasted an hour. He was interested in my impression of the cadets and I wanted to hear from his perspective why I was there and what he hoped his students would gain from having met me. I was incredibly impressed with the colonel. He struck me as a leader with his finger on the Army’s pulse and his eyes on the national horizon. He expressed interest in having me return to speak to future classes, thanked me profusely, and as our time was drawing to a close, asked me a question that surprised me. “What can we do for you?” I had prepared to make an ask of Colonel Kolditz, but didn’t expect to be offered such a clear opening.

I asked him to begin considering how the Army should treat transgender soldiers and dependents in light of the imminent repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” With the story a dear friend, currently serving in the cabinet of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, as my launch pad, I suggested that this issue would soon present itself to the Army and that the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership was naturally positioned to lead the way in making the Army fully inclusive of transgender service members. He committed to considering the issue, and I urged him to seek the advice and counsel of TAVA at the earliest opportunity. As I left, he gave me a Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership coin–a special honor for me as my wife majored in that department and doesn’t have a coin!–and asked me to stay in touch.

I’m sure by this point that my fond remembrances and nostalgia are beginning to bore you, so I’ll only note here that I was able to visit a cadet barracks with the Firstie who served as my escort and then had lunch with the Corps in the Cadet Mess–the first time I had been in those areas since my graduation fifteen years ago.

After lunch I lectured to a second group of cadets, this time in an Introduction to Sociology class for junior sociology, psychology, and leadership majors. While they were less engaged than my first class–which I chalked up to the greater diversity of academic backgrounds in the room, as well as the fact that it was the hour immediately following lunch–they were still very respectful of me and of our community, and seemed eager to learn more.

There were many faculty members in attendance as well, and I spent an hour after the lecture speaking with them and getting their perspective on the issues. They echoed Colonel Kolditz’s assessment of the Corps’ conservative shift and expressed concern that it seemed to be a tremendous challenge for them to discuss an issue like the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” objectively and dispassionately. I share their concern.

I dined that evening with Judy and two other faculty members, Major Darcy Schnack (professor of one of the sections of Introduction to Sociology I had taught) and her husband, Major Troy Schnack of the Department of History. We had a wonderful discussion of our shared experience with my lectures and of future opportunities.

I’d like to close by thanking you, and every member of TAVA, for allowing me the opportunity to represent us at West Point. Words fail me as I seek to express my gratitude, so I will say simply that I count it as one of the very highest honors I have ever received, or ever could. I am deeply, deeply grateful.

Please let me know if my report raises any questions for you or if you’d like more details on any part of my visit. Of course, if I can serve TAVA in any capacity in the future, I hope you won’t hesitate to call on me.

Duty, Honor, Country,
Allyson Robinson

As the President of TAVA, I cannot express how proud I am of Allyson and her commitment to our community. She won’t be at HRC for many years, and when she does decide to move on, I see her as one of our future leaders. She is another example of how the military veterans in our community can step up when the need arises. She made history, but there are more moments like these waiting for us in the future. After all, there is the Naval Academy in Annapolis and the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Is someone out there able to open these doors for us?

I heard a recently discussion that some transgender people feel far less patriotic toward the Good ‘Ol US of A since beginning their journey down this new adventure in life.  I have heard it coming from transsexuals and others who live full-time in a cross-gender life, but not so much from crossdressers and others who cross the gender lines temporarily.  Why would transsexuals feel this way?

Dictionary.com’s definition of Patriotism is:

“noun: devoted love, support, and defense of one’s country; national loyalty.”

“Devoted love, support, and defense of one’s country?”  I have noticed that transsexuals who have served their country in the military don’t seem to have as much of an issue with their patriotism, and in many cases, are more patriotic than the average American.  I served eight years in the Navy and I am very proud of the service to my country, as I am with all the family members who also served.  I even have a memorial to my father with models of four jets he worked on when he was in the Air Force.  In a year, my mother will give me the flag that was on his coffin, and I will display it proudly.

(Break)

Why would some trans people feel a loss of patriotism after starting their lives down the correct path?  Could it be all of the things this country has done and continues to do to show us how little they care about us?  “Can I get a Hallelujah and a big Duh here?”  Ya think?  Here are some of the things I have seen over the years that have made me even question my patriotism.

Violence:

Year by year, violence toward trans people continues to get worse and worse.  The Remember Our Dead list doesn’t stop growing, with more than half coming from the US each year.  Other forms of physical violence and rape are also disproportionately higher in our community then in other minorities.  Only young African American men seem to have as much or more violence then transgender people.  In the trans community, People of Color have faced a higher percentage of violence and the ROD list reflects this.  This feeling of constant danger can cause people to wish they lived someplace else, so it affects their patriotism.

Federal Hate Crimes Legislation:

According to the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE,) eleven states have their own form of hate crimes legislation that covers gender expression and gender identity.  On the federal level, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (LLEHCPA,) HR 1592, passed the House, but in the Senate, their version, bill S 1105, was attached to an arm forces appropriation bill to get it to the President’s desk.  However, this changed the appropriation bill, which meant it had to go back to the House for approval.  LLEHCPA was then removed from the appropriations bill, thus ending its journey.

The difference between the federal hate crimes bill and a state hate crimes law is that the federal law will NOT increase sentences.  LLEHCPA will add “gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability” to the existing protected class list, which already includes race, color, religion, and national origin.  This would allow federal money to go to local law enforcement agencies to help investigate a hate crime.  It would also mean that separate stats would be collected on crimes against LGBT people and would show the numbers of those crimes committed in the US.

The most important reason to pass a federal hate crimes law is to tell the American people that if you hate this group of people and commit crimes against them, it will no longer be tolerated.  Since Congress had been so cavalier in trying to pass LLEHCPA and then letting it die so easily, it sent a message that LGBT people are not important enough to add to the existing federal hate crimes legislation.  The United States of American is okay with its citizens hating LGBT people and harming them.  They could easily be saying, “We don’t think they are worthy enough to care what happens to them.”  One begins to question why they should be patriotic toward a county who feels that way about them.

Federal Employment Non-Discrimination:

Here is another area where transgender people have questioned their patriotism.  According to NCTE, thirteen states and the District of Columbia have passed nondiscrimination laws that protect people based on their gender identity and gender expression.  This leaves 63% of the American population not covered.  Many of those remaining states will never pass their own nondiscrimination law, so their citizens are depending on the federal government for this.  As we saw in 2007, Congress was more than willing to throw transgender and gender variant people under the bus when it came to this law.

I was well on my way to working toward becoming a delegate to the Democratic National Committee’s 2008 Convention in Denver when the vote for ENDA took place in October, 2007.  As soon as I got word that a majority of supposedly supportive Democrats voted for the non-inclusive law, I stopped supporting the Democratic Party.  I was not very happy that the party I gave money to and worked for to elect their candidates told me in no uncertain terms that I was not worthy to be considered equal to other Americans.  To a veteran, that is a huge slap in the face.  Veterans Day came up shortly after that and I refused to march in the Atlanta Veterans Day Parade or participate in any activities.  My patriotism suffered its biggest blow in my life.

I wasn’t the only one.  There was a rumor that if the non-inclusive ENDA passed, some transgender people planned on seeking asylum at the Dutch Embassy in DC because of the discriminatory actions of this country.  They wanted to embarrass the US, but nothing every came of it, or at least not yet.  Besides, the current administration would have cared less if a bunch of “tranny freaks” left the country.

Transgender Veterans Discrimination in the VA:

This is a subject I have written about several times recently, since the White Paper Report on the Transgender Veterans Survey was published.  I don’t need to go into detail once again on the amount and kinds of discrimination transgender veterans have faced in VA medical facilities.  When a person gives four, ten, twenty, or thirty years of their life to serve this country in the military, one would think that they have earned the right to be treated with respect and equally with other veterans.  It’s no wonder some transgender veterans question their patriotism when they held up their end of the contract, but the country doesn’t hold up theirs.

Over and over again, transgender people indirectly get the message that this country doesn’t want them as citizens.  Yet, they still take our tax money.  Sometimes the message comes from the very allies we hoped would be there for us no matter what.  Sometimes it comes from Congress in the form of being excluded from legislation.  We hear it from law enforcement agencies, employers, co-workers, family members, the medical profession, insurance companies and even the people on the streets.  We hear this so much that not a day goes by that some transgender person in this country questions why they still live here.  Some actually do leave.

As for me, I was born here, my family has been here since before the Revolutionary War, many family members in our history served in this country’s military and all my family lives here today.  The ENDA disaster was the closest time in my life where I questioned my patriotism.  I decided that my love for this country and the pride I have for what I did in the Navy cannot be dampened any longer by an uncaring Congress, an administration that has promoted hate and a population that refused to be educated.  I will continue working toward fixing the problems of this country, or die trying.