Jennewein '14: Confronting transgender discrimination in ROTC
By Maddy Jennewein
Guest Columnist
Published: Monday, March 14, 2011
http://www.browndailyherald.com/jennewein-14-confronting-transgender-discrimination-in-rotc-1.2512583In the current debate over the potential return of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps to campus, much attention has been given to economic, administrative and militaristic concerns. But little attention has been paid to the rampant discrimination within the military against transgender people. Though the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is lauded as a huge victory for the LGBTQ community, it does nothing to affect the status of transgender service members.
It is clear that the driving force behind the new committee on ROTC is the recent repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," but an immediate reinstatement of ROTC ignores the "T" in LGBT. Transgender people are continually ignored in the push for lesbian, gay and bisexual rights. Before declaring recent political events a success for LGBT rights and an open invitation for ROTC, we need to consider continuing discrimination in the military.
