A soon-to-be published study claims men who served in the military were twice as likely to consider themselves transgender as men who were not veterans. Air Force veteran and psychologist George Brown told Courthouse News Service his study looked at more than 5 million veterans as subjects.
A paper Brown wrote in 1988, "Transsexuals in the Military: Flight Into Hypermasculinity," found that that biological men who identified themselves as inwardly female were drawn to the military as a way of suppressing their gender dysphoria:
"A striking similarity was noted in the histories of nearly all of the military gender dysphorics... They joined the service, in their words, 'to become a real man.'"
Brown said he will present his latest study on transgenderism in the military this fall, but wasn't heavy on the details.
Pentagon spokeswoman Eileen Lainez wouldn't comment on the study, but instead reiterated in an email to Courthouse News Service the military's official policy on transgender people:
"DoD regulations don't allow transgender individuals to serve in the military, based upon medical standards for military service."
Interestingly enough, countries like Israel, Thailand, Spain, and Canada don't ban transgender folks from joining their militaries.
What do you think? Should transgender individuals be allowed to serve openly in the U.S. military? Have your say in our comments section!
