SEVERAL
SEVERAL YEARS. IT IS COMPLEX. IT IS EMOTIONAL. SO HERE'S SHARON
WITH A LOOK BACK AT WHAT LED
UP TO THIS
>> PRIOR TO BILL CLINTON'S DON'T
ASK, DON'T TELL POLICY. GAY MEN
AND WOMEN WERE COMPLETELY BANNED
FROM SERVING IN THE UNITED
STATES MILITARY. BUT DON'T ASK,
DON'T TELL WASN'T A VICTORY
EITHER. IT WAS SEEN AS A SIMPLY
REPACKAGED VERSION OF THE SAME
BAN GAY SERVICE MEMBERS STILL
SILENCED. THEN CAME THE REPEAL
OF DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL BY
THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION IN 2011
ALLOWING GAY SERVICE MEMBERS
TO SERVE OPENLY IN 2016. ANOTHER
VICTORY, THIS TIME
FOR TRANSGENDER PEOPLE WHO COULD
THEN SERVE OPENLY AS WELL . THEN
IN JULY OF 2017, THE TRUMP
ADMINISTRATION SHUT THAT DOWN
WITH A SINGLE TWEET. NOW, NEARLY
FOUR YEARS LATER, THE BIDEN
ADMINISTRATION HAS ISSUED AN
EXECUTIVE ORDER ALLOWING
TRANSGENDER SERVICE MEMBERS
TO SERVE OPENLY ONCE AGAIN.
I WAS VERY EXCITED. IT'S A
LITTLE BIT BITTERSWEET NOW
THAT I'M NO LONGER IN THE
MILITARY HAVING JUST RETIRED TWO
MONTHS AGO. I KNOW THAT A LOT
OF THE FOLKS THAT I SERVED
WITH ARE ALSO OF THE SAME
MINDSET RIGHT NOW. I THINK
WE ALL KNEW IT WAS COMING AND IT
FEELS LIKE A BIG WEIGHT BEING
LIFTED OFF OF EVERYBODY'S
SHOULDERS. FORMER
SHOULDERS. FORMER >> MAJOR OF THE MIINNESOTA ARMY
NATIONAL GUARD TARRENCE
ROBERTSON SAYS THE CHANGE IS
IMPORTANT, INCLUDING THE PART
WHERE TRANSGENDER SERVICE
MEMBERS WHO HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN
DISHONORABLY DISCHARGED CAN NOW
HAVE THAT CHANGED? CAN YOU JUST
EXPLAIN TO A CIVILIAN LIKE ME
HOW IMPORTANT THAT IS
>> WHEN YOU RECEIVE
A CHARACTERIZEATION OF DISCHARGE
THAT'S ANYTHING OTHER THAN
HONORABLE THAT HAS IMPLICATIONS
ON YOUR PROSPECTS
FOR EMPLOYMENT, FOR GOING
TO SCHOOL FOR SO MANY BACKGROUND
CHECKS. IT'S I MEAN, IT'S MULTI
MULTIFACETED AND HAVING THAT BE
RETROACTIVELY REVERSED I THINK
IS IT'S A NECESSITY. BUT EVEN
WITH THIS CHANGE, HE SAYS
IT'S DIFFICULT KNOWING THAT HIS
IDENTITY, ALONG WITH THOUSANDS
OF OTHER TRANSGENDER SERVICE
MEMBERS IS USED POLITICALLY
MERELY
MERELY
MERELY >>
MERELY >> EXISTING AS A MEMBER OF THE
LGBTQ COMMUNITY, ESPECIALLY
SOMEBODY WHO'S TRANSGENDER. YOU
ARE POLITICIZED AND YOUR BODY IS
INHERENTLY POLITICAL, TURNS
POLITICAL AND I WISH THAT THAT
WASN'T THE CASE. BUT I FEEL LIKE
THAT THAT IS USED IN A MANNER
TO ADVANCE THINGS LIKE HATE
AND DISCRIMINATION AND TO
PLACATE TO FALSE NARRATIVES
ABOUT WHAT CERTAIN COMMUNITIES
ARE OR ARE NOT
>>. IS THERE A PART THAT WORRIES
ANOTHER EXECUTIVE ORDER BY
A DIFFERENT ADMINISTRATION IS
GOING TO CHANGE THE FATE
OF SERVICE MEMBERS ALL OVER
THE COUNTRY
THE COUNTRY >>? I THINK THAT THAT'S ALWAYS
NOW IN THE BACK OF OUR MINDS
AND AS IT CONTINUES TO EBB
AND FLOW THAT THAT MIGHT
CERTAINLY BE A POSSIBILITY IF
WE CONTINUE TO MOVE THIS FORWARD
AS A SERIES OF EXECUTIVE ORDERS.
BUT WHAT I REALLY HOPE
FOR COLLECTIVELY AS A COUNTRY IS
THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY START
TO MOVE BEYOND THAT RIGHT NOW.
THERE IS NO ACCURATE COUNT
OF HOW MANY TRANSGENDER
PEOPLE ARE CURRENTLY ON ACTIVE
DUTY. THE NUMBERS HAVE RANGED
FROM TWENTY FIVE HUNDRED
TO 15000 FIVE HUNDRED, WHICH IS
QUITE A RANGE AND THAT'S
PRECISELY FOR A REASON BECAUSE
TRANS FOLKS HAVE AND SOME STILL
DO SERVE IN FEAR. BUT WITH THIS
EXECUTIVE ORDER, TRANSGENDER
RECRUITS WILL BE ABLE TO JOIN
THE MILITARY. SHARON TARRENCE
MAKES A GREAT POINT ABOUT BEING
A POLITICAL BARGAINING CHIP
FOR WHO YOU ARE AS A PERSON.
SEVERAL PEOPLE HAVE VOICED THEIR
CONCERNS ABOUT THAT . WHAT ALSO
IF YOU HEARD IN THAT IN THAT
GENRE, WILL THEY WANT SOMETHING
PERMANENT, SOMETHING THAT WILL
NOT JUST SUBJECT THEM TO
THE WHIMS OF AN EXECUTIVE ORDER
AND CHANGING ADMINISTRATION
AND SPADA, WHICH IS
A TRANSGENDER MILITARY ADVOCACY
ORGANIZATION, SAID IN A
STATEMENT TODAY THAT THEY WANT
SOMETHING TO BE CODIFIED