On Transgender Military Service

First in a coming web series.

While the policy was in effect, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT)—the law that banned LGB Americans from serving openly in the nation’s military—addressed sexual orientation not gender identity. The repeal of DADT had no effect on transgender service-members who still serve in silence. It has and continues to be legal to “ask” if a person is trans and fire them even without voluntary disclosure. However, the U.K. has accepted transgender service members since 1999, before they authorized LGB personnel to serve openly. This workplace gender discrimination affects everyone and if we can achieve equality in the military we can achieve equality elsewhere. The TransMilitary project will engage and entertain a wide and diverse American audience audience while challenging their assumptions about gender and gender identity making this content a catalyst for change.