So, Biden has come through, and the transgender military ban is gone. And this is important. You might ask why it is important to a near-fifty year old trans who would never be accepted into the military on physical grounds. It’s important because, when you take an entire group of citizens, and deem them unworthy or incompatible with military service, you are in effect saying they are in some way defective...this is stigmatizing. Now, I know and am friends with more than a few transgender Veterans, one of whom served in Vietnam. And I am very glad for these friends of mine, and for those trans who wish to serve. That being said...my feelings on this, personally, have never changed from the very first day this ban was initiated… Simply, my position was this: I cannot EVER see myself willing to put my body in harm’s way, being shot at, and facing the daily risk of being killed, maimed or crippled...in order to defend the freedoms of people who so cheerfully and gleefully refuse me mine. HOWEVER...those trans who do wish to serve and are otherwise qualified to do so...should damn as hell be allowed to serve! Barry Goldwater said it best when the issue was gays in the military, “They only have to be able to shoot straight.” My friend who served in Vietnam once said...when you are down in a foxhole, you do not give a damn about anything...as long as the person down in the foxhole with you has your back! Trump’s rationale behind the ban...was as full of bullshit as everything else he did while in office, citing unspecified “disruption” and medical expenses. I’m sure he must have been aware, or should have been aware, that the military never has covered any medical procedures relating to gender confirmation. So it was another bogus claim among many. Well, Biden’s off to a good start here...still waiting, however, on two more things...one will — or should — be far easier than the other. The first is a reaffirmation of the original wording and interpretation of Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. This was what protected LGBTQ people like me from being denied healthcare, just because of who we are. That he could do anything to limit some citizens access to healthcare in the middle of a pandemic of deadly disease...speaks volumes as to just what kind of a monster Trump was. Trump’s “justification” for this was so that medical providers would not be forced to perform sex change operations (gender confirming surgeries, thank you, Mr. Trump) or abortions. That doctors should not be forced to violate their “sincerely held religious beliefs.” How often has that bullshit been used to carve out exceptions to our equality? But this one was far more insidious, on several levels: Firstly, the premise was total bullshit. In order to perform either an abortion, or gender-confirming surgery, one has to undertake specialized training. One does not undertake such training to perform procedures to which they are morally opposed. Secondly, doctors who provide these services...tend to provide EXCLUSIVELY these services. Thirdly, and more to the point...as a transgender woman who got my surgery in 2002...I would say that I would NEVER want to be in a position where a potentially hostile-to-me doctor was coming at ME with a knife while I am unconscious! Or while I was conscious, for that matter! But the actual rewrite of Section 1557 was so broad and so vague...as to be able to be interpreted as being allowed to refuse ANY medical procedure to any person who was LGBTQ...up to and even including life-necessary and life-saving procedures! And this was finalized in the middle of a pandemic! I know many members of my community (and I am one of them) who honestly fears that, if we get COVID...we will be deprioritized for treatment and allowed to die...in order to save the straight and cisgender...regardless of any other health considerations. That we will not only be allowed to die...but that we will be “lucky” enough to draw an ICU doctor in charge of our case who is hostile to trans...and who will deliberately withhold treatment so that he can laugh wile we drown in our own fluids and die...alone and scared...nobody we love around us. I still fear that i will get COVID before they finally get around to getting me a shot...the vaccination has been so freaking bungled, I do NOT believe Biden will be able to deliver...and that I will be lucky to get a shot by 2030. Okay, so I engaged in a little hyperbole there, but, you get my point! Anyway...the rewrite of Section 1557 never went into effect, because of a lawsuit...and an injunction filed against its implementation based on the likelihood of success of the Plaintiff’s case...based on the recent Bostock ruling...which is yet one more reason why that ruling was SO important to my community. The fact that it was a 6-3 ruling in Bostock makes it pretty iron-clad. I think the easiest way for Biden to get rid of this is to simply withdraw the lawsuit, and enter into a Consent Decree that declares the rewrite null and void...and then the issuance of an XO that reiterates the original interpretation of the original wording. That part should be easy. The harder part will be passage of The Equality Act...unless they DO decide to nuke the filibuster. At least, this time, The Equality Act WILL be heard on the floor of the Senate and GOP will have to go ON RECORD if they oppose equal rights for my people...and I’d love some of them to be challenged by colleagues and reporters to explain why they are opposed. However, none of this addresses the current culture of our country, and the fact that Trump all but greenlighted discrimination against us...and greenlighted the withholding of even life-saving care for us. And, as we saw in the trump era...laws are basically worthless unless they are enforced. And even then...that would not necessarily protect us. While things are better now that when Trump was in...there’s still things to address. Biden has got off to a good start, but it will be a long time before I am fully able to relax.
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