Meet The Trans Scholar Fighting Against The Campaign For Out Trans Military Service

"Trans people, trans organizations, the trans movement did not choose this battle," Dean Spade says. The law professor says rich donors chose the issue, and maintains the focus will hurt other trans rights issues. posted on September 9, 2013 at 5:03pm EDT
Chris Geidner BuzzFeed Staff

http://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/meet-the-trans-scholar-fighting-against-the-campaign-for-out

WASHINGTON — In recent months, one of the key issues relating to transgender rights that has come up in public debate is that of out transgender military service. A leading trans legal scholar, however, tells BuzzFeed the focus is "likely to harm" other progress sought by the transgender community and is coming at "the whims of a few wealthy donors."

From the decision by former Navy SEAL, Kristin Beck, to come out as trans to the announcement by Chelsea Manning that she also is trans, trans military issues have received more attention than ever before. Also affecting the dynamic is the decision by Jennifer Natalya Pritzker, a former colonel in the Illinois Army National Guard who has since come out as trans, to back a $1.35 million donation to the Palm Center to study transgender military service.

For Dean Spade, who is trans and a leading left legal scholar on transgender and other inequality issues, the attention being paid to the military issues is part of a disturbing trend.

"Here's the problem: Trans people, trans organizations, the trans movement did not choose this battle," Spade noted. "

• ne very wealthy individual has picked this issue and is funding advocacy about it."

I have to say, I don't completely agree with Dean Spade's views. Clearly, at least one trans person, Colonel Pritzner, picked this battle by her donation to study trans issues in the military. While there are other issues that are important to the trans community, such as prison growth/violence as he stated, the military is also very important to many people who are trans. He does show a strong dislike for our current military, and I sense that has a major impact on his feelings regarding this issue.

Looking back over history, the U.S. Military always changes before society. For that reason, I feel this is a very important step for us to achieve. In the past when something like racial equality, same sex marriage and such became acceptable in the U.S. armed forces, it followed shortly after with more acceptance from society at large.

I'm very torn on his viewpoint. On one hand, perhaps there are other issues that might get tossed aside in efforts to work towards trans people openly serving. On the other, he really only seems to touch on trans people who may enter the military once they are able to. The reality is, there are many trans people who are already in the military who have to live in fear of their trans status being discovered. Some have not transitioned and don't pursue it because they are in the military, some are transitioning in secret. Whether or not one is "pro war", these trans people who are already serving have their asses on the line every day and could lose their career, benefits, future, etc, because of trans people not being able to openly serve.