The Pentagon Delaying Decision About Transgender Recruits

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http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/340376-top-dem-pentagon-decision-to-delay-transgender-troop-enlistment

If I had to guess, transgender people don't rank high on the administration's list of priorities. The previous administration probably had someone actively keeping up the pressure on the armed forces to move on this policy, but with that pressure gone, the military bureaucracy has returned to their usual pattern of resisting change.

Some extreme evangelical beliefs get pushed on people in the US Military from time to time. I suppose plenty of borderline holy warriors would take an interest in military service, whether wielding a cross or a rifle. The military naturally has accommodations for service members of all faiths, but people have repeatedly alleged favoritism and pressure to conform.

The military hierarchy is dominated by older patriotic christian types who would probably like to return to racially separated armed troops and probably strongly object to women and gays in the military (let alone transgender).

Feet dragging is hardly going to raise an eyebrow

If someone wants to serve and potentially die for their country, let 'em. It's odd for me to say as someone who (mostly) identifies as liberal, but if I weren't autistic, I probably would've enlisted in the military when I was younger. I'd do it for the life experience, if nothing else.

I understand the military's hesitancy on this issue and I think people need to understand, it doesn't have anything to do with the morale or character of the individual, but realities concerning being transexual.

To elaborate on that, transexual individuals typically require hormone therapy to accomplish their goals. For female to male transexuals, this entails testosterone supplementation and possibly estrogen blockers. The testosterone is necessary to virilize the body and maintain a male level of strength and muscle mass. It's often administered as a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly injection, or a daily application of gel.

Male to female transexuals, until they have their testicles removed, must take testosterone blockers...often spirolactone, and estrogen.

All of these medication can cause blood clots, spirolactone can cause a number of health problems, and all of these medications require regular blood tests.

While it's true that there are people in the military who require regular medication and blood work from it, these things can pose a problem in a combat situation, and the military prefers to recruit individuals who do not have such medical needs.