Not content with seeing its gay brothers and sisters on the cusp of being able to serve openly in the military, America’s transgender community is still longing for the day when the Pentagon won’t view them as a bunch of he-shes. Banned from service by default, transgender civilians looking to serve must either mask their gender identity (hard to do if you’ve had below-the-waist surgery, which constitutes “physical abnormalities,” making you unfit for duty), or waiting until they leave service to embark on a more complete transition, paid for by the federal government: “[T]he military’s long-standing posture on gender-identity has not prevented transgender citizens from signing up before they come out, or from obtaining psychological counseling, hormones and routine health care through the Department of Veterans Affairs once they return to civilian life.” Indeed, because being transgender constitutes you as having a medical disorder, the VA will pay for your “treatment.” Just don’t expect to scam Uncle Sam for that sex change operation.
jacknastion
honestly I don’t really think taxpayers should be paying for gender reassignment surgery, even for veterans.
GetBalance
I just connected the dots. Tony Perkins is the ultimate closet case. Now where is his computer????????????
Emelye Waldherr
I think America’s transgender community is still longing for the day when the LGB community sees them as equals. Until that happens, it’s obviously not the case now, how can we expect the general public to become allies for equality for ALL deserving Americans?
As for paying for surgery, transsexual people have a recognized serious medical condition that has a standard set of therapies which include gender realignment surgery. This is not an elective procedure and should thus be covered as any other serious medical condition is covered.
Perkins, head of a hate group (designated as such by the Southern Policy Law Center), is a vile human being, be he straight or gay, if ya ask me.