So.
I saw on my timeline a gripe from a Christian friend of mine about how people are spending way too much complimenting Caitlyn Jenner’s so called “bravery,” and not respecting the bravery of our troops.
And I partially agree. Yeah, I’m skeptical about the occasional misuses of our army (I’m liberal — sorry), but I have to admit that we’ve perhaps kinda paid a lot more attention to Caitlyn Jenner than she may be worth. There are other people, brave men and women, who put their lives out on the line every day, trying to make a life better for us here in the United States, and we need to respect them. Not just the women (although that’s important, as well). But you’re right, we also need to start respecting the men. The REAL men.
So I’d like to take some time out to celebrate the bravery of a man who served the military, both in the Marines and in the Army.
A man who has put their life on the line for us twice in tours to Iraq, and once in a tour to Afghanistan.
A man who serves us in Hawaii as helicopter crew chief in the Army.
A man who is a muscular bodybuilder.
A real man who didn’t merely put his life on the line for our country — who, arguably, did a far, far braver thing that, in his mind, was just being himself. And he was the first one in the military to do it.
Sgt. Shane Ortega, the first openly trans man in the US Military.
Talk about brave, right? And he’s not the only one in the Military — there are another estimated 15,500 brave trans men and women who serve in our military today.
What makes this braver, perhaps, than Caitlyn Jenner’s situation in some ways is that being trans and in the military is still illegal. Yeah, that’s right. And Shane Ortega has not been dismissed, although, outrageously, he’s been barred from flying (what does identifying as a man have to do with your goddamn flying skills, btw?). As he puts it, “Administratively I shouldn’t exist. But I do exist, so that’s still the problem.”
But it’s not just bad for him. Ortega has friends in the military, he’s respected, and he honestly has an earnest heart to serve his country; his status as a trans man is incidental, not something he did on purpose just to make waves. So it’s a bit awkward for the people who know and support Ortega for his principles and his serving heart — including several of his comrades in the military — to have to be concerned about losing him due to antiquated bullshit rules. And then there’s the fact that the military is so intolerant of trans individuals that, although the Pentagon won’t say how many they dismissed, it is estimated that at least a dozen have been silently dismissed in the past half year alone just for being trans. That’s right — for our brave trans soldiers, “don’t ask, don’t tell” is largely still a thing. If the military finds out, they could coldly deny you the freedom you fought for — like they did to Landon Wilson in the video, who relates his experience below. The worst part, as he put it, was not what his discharge did to him, but the danger it put his comrades in — as, in his situation, every soldier was vital.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmkgDtjjPws[/youtube]
“Respect the troops” indeed.
Can you imagine how brave you would have to be to, on top of serving your country, have to worry about being dismissed and your country that you are willing to sacrifice your life to protect turning its back on you because some ill-informed yahoos don’t like the way you self-identify? THAT’S bravery. You went and did a tour in Iraq? Oh, that’s nice. Trans people do tours in Iraq and sacrifice their lives and many of the very same group that screams “respect the troops” tries to do their best to force the trans person’s friends to hand them a goddamn pink slip because they stuck their lives out to protect the freedom we so insistently deny them ourselves.
Yeah, you’re right. This goes beyond Caitlyn Jenner. OK, fine, let’s move on from that issue. This is arguably more serious than that. Trans people should not be kicked out of our military for being trans.
Let’s have some rational sense so we can respect men and women like Ortega for the brave individuals they are.
And as a gesture of respect I’d like to end with Ortega sharing a few details about his life in the military.
Including his words about how his situation connects to Caitlyn Jenner’s.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCQramsY3Us[/youtube]
Thanks for reading.
[Image Courtesy of The National Guard under Creative Commons License]