Support NeoGAF

[KSweeley]

WaPo just reported that due to the Trump ban on transgender military service members, the U.S. Coast Guard suddenly postponed a LGBT discussion panel that was scheduled for Thursday, July 27 and WaPo got reactions of Trump's Tweet banning transgender service members from some transgender U.S. Coast Guard members: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...b5181a-72d2-11e7-8f39-eeb7d3a2d304_story.html

July 27, 2017

Lt. Taylor Miller of the U.S. Coast Guard had just started into her seven-hour drive when she learned the panel about transgender integration in the military — the panel on which she was scheduled to speak Thursday morning — had been suddenly postponed.

The trek from Long Beach up Interstate 5 was suddenly rendered moot, but Miller kept driving toward Alameda. What else was there to do? She woke up Wednesday morning to a spray of text messages like this one: “You doing ok after the news?”

President Trump had, with a couple of tweets, indicated that he wants to ban transgender people from serving in the military. The Coast Guard’s immediate response was to postpone the LGBTQ discussion panel.

“I feel very unwanted,” Miller said. “Mortified and embarrassed.”

At 27, Miller is one of three service members in the Coast Guard to have had their genders reassigned, having transitioned into the life she knows she was always meant to lead. The past year began with elation — when the Pentagon announced that transgender people would be allowed to serve openly in the military — and appears to have ended with devastation for many, as the commander in chief cast their lives and careers back into uncertainty with a couple of tweets.

In an already tumultuous time, Miller said Trump’s tweets have added one more worry to a life full of anxiety.

“Most people my age are worried whether they’re going to get a date or what apartment they’re going to rent,” Miller said. “I’m worried about how I’m going to cover the cost of my hormones, hide from everybody and not get beaten up and murdered in an alleyway.”

Miller, a mechanical engineer who is a marine inspector of foreign and domestic commercial vessels, sat in a corner of a chain restaurant just off the California highway and stared into her lap. Disbelief.

“Last month, I helped my unit as it rolled out a training policy for transgender services,” Miller said. “And here we are, less than a month later. Yeah, all of a sudden, I feel like I’m eating my words.”

The Thursday panel at Base Alameda was supposed to be a leap forward, an opportunity for Miller to help military leaders understand her and others like her. A spokesman for the Coast Guard cited lack of guidance for its last-minute decision to close down the discussion, because with the military’s policy “in flux” the service needs “to figure out how this is going to affect us.”

Air Force Senior Airman Audrey Goodson, like Miller, is a transgender woman already in the ranks. She started her transition at age 19 after learning that transgender people would be able to serve: “I took that as a sign for me to come forward with my truth,” she said.

Originally from Arkansas and now stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage as a medical technician, her on-paper transition with the military is complete, thanks to a group of transgender soldiers and airmen who helped her navigate the process.

Still undergoing medical treatment, Goodson lives as a woman, and her supervisors no longer check her face for makeup or force her into a buzzcut because she was fully accepted. She thought. The president’s tweets have stunned her.

“You can’t just post it on Twitter and call it a day. It just really upset me that I didn’t get an official military guideline. Nobody really knows the next step. It’s scary,” she said. “You have all these people who were comfortable with coming out. They told their leadership, and they trusted everyone. Now their lives and their families are in jeopardy.”

 

[KSweeley]

This is so fucked up:

President Trump had, with a couple of tweets, indicated that he wants to ban transgender people from serving in the military. The Coast Guard’s immediate response was to postpone the LGBTQ discussion panel.

“I feel very unwanted,” Miller said. “Mortified and embarrassed.”

At 27, Miller is one of three service members in the Coast Guard to have had their genders reassigned, having transitioned into the life she knows she was always meant to lead. The past year began with elation — when the Pentagon announced that transgender people would be allowed to serve openly in the military — and appears to have ended with devastation for many, as the commander in chief cast their lives and careers back into uncertainty with a couple of tweets.

“Last month, I helped my unit as it rolled out a training policy for transgender services,” Miller said. “And here we are, less than a month later. Yeah, all of a sudden, I feel like I’m eating my words.”

Air Force Senior Airman Audrey Goodson, like Miller, is a transgender woman already in the ranks. She started her transition at age 19 after learning that transgender people would be able to serve: “I took that as a sign for me to come forward with my truth,” she said.

Still undergoing medical treatment, Goodson lives as a woman, and her supervisors no longer check her face for makeup or force her into a buzzcut because she was fully accepted. She thought. The president’s tweets have stunned her.

“You can’t just post it on Twitter and call it a day. It just really upset me that I didn’t get an official military guideline. Nobody really knows the next step. It’s scary,” she said. “You have all these people who were comfortable with coming out. They told their leadership, and they trusted everyone. Now their lives and their families are in jeopardy.”

 

[theWB27]

Why are they still stopping when it was pointed out the tweet isnt enough to make it law?

 

[KSweeley]

Why are they still stopping when it was pointed out the tweet isnt enough to make it law?

Very good question, Trump's Tweet is causing a lot of immediate impacts.

 

[Chaos2Frozen]

Why are they still stopping when it was pointed out the tweet isnt enough to make it law?

Because nobody knows wtf is going on so everyone is doing everything at the same time.

 

[astroturfing]

get Trump the fuck out of office. this is utterly shameful.

 

[Wulfric]

This is rather unusual and disheartening. I can't imagine why they couldn't continue with the panel when the Pentagon itself said they weren't going to change a thing without an official order from the WH.

I don't know how other branches are rolling it out, but the National Guard had our transgender awareness brief last month. Aside from a few immature jokes, most people took it pretty seriously.

Too bad we can't say the same for our president.

 

[Mesoian]

Why are they still stopping when it was pointed out the tweet isnt enough to make it law?

Confusion.

But real talk, when the leader of the country and his surrounding party point to you and say, "We don't want you here", it's not exactly great for morale. I mean, at that point, it must be hard to find reason to stay.

 

[Koomaster]

Why are they still stopping when it was pointed out the tweet isnt enough to make it law?

Because nobody knows any answers. And having a panel, there are sure to be lots of questions focused on this. Wouldn't do anybody any good to just sit there going; 'I dunno. *shrug*' the whole time.

Trump basically just threw things into chaos even though this isn't official yet. So nobody knows any details, what to say or what the next step even is at this point.

 

[Mahonay]

God this is heartbreaking

God damn it. God damn our rotten piece of shit president

 

[Shadow Broker]

Why are they still stopping when it was pointed out the tweet isnt enough to make it law?

He's the commander and chief. Confusion. If I were still in the military and the President of the United States did this threw Twitter I would've went to my NCO and asked if this was a lawful order and he most likely would have replied with I have no fucking clue.

 

[DarkJediKnight]

Just disgusting! President for all americans my ass!