Thanks, Planet Jackson Hole (@theplanetjh) for using my photograph in this story of a queer non-binary individual who completed 4 years of service in the US Army, including 6 months in Afghanistan.
Their story is worth reading.
Davis says, transitioning or being transgender is not an illness. Even when the Obama administration allowed for open service, Davis said the policy “read like a really terrible disease to be transgender.” To boil the conversation down to numbers on a budget, Davis said, is to forget the human beings behind those figures. “This is someone’s life experience. It shouldn’t be roped in with disease. For that to be so disregarded gets me the most frustrated.”
The medical profession agrees. Transitioning or being transgender is not an illness.
Transgender individuals are serving their country with honor, and they should be allowed to continue doing so. https://t.co/nJ9jmxnKBz pic.twitter.com/VKnd0HxERB
— AMA (@AmerMedicalAssn) July 26, 2017
But people who serve in the military face challenges every day. They don’t quit because things are hard or confusing, Davis said. Saying “Let’s just give up ‘cause it’s kinda hard” is not the military Davis knows. THE BUZZ: Trans-Military – Planet Jackson Hole