A wounded veteran has decided to address the Donald Trump transgender ban for the United States military. Everyone and their mother has an opinion on this, with some of the most extreme reactions being published in the media. In fact, some opinions (generally those belonging to soldiers and veterans who agree with the ban) are being ignored altogether.
JR Salzman – someone who has experience fighting for our nation – took to Twitter to unleash his views on the world.
Liberals like to say that the United States military is a hub of toxic masculinity that exists so that men can prove how tough they are by killing brown people in the desert over some oil. They then lament that transgender people aren’t going to be invited into that environment because… logic. Or something.
Salzman explains why soldiers aren’t going to automatically oppose the transgender ban just because some people say that they should.
Here is the point where Salzman begins to explain that being a soldier is difficult enough under normal circumstances, let alone when you have your own personal issues going on such as is the case for people who are transgender.
Sitting in a Starbucks, sipping your venti white chocolate mocha, 2% soy milk, sweetened, extra whip with two shots, blogging about LGBTQ issues doesn’t make your opinion equal to that of someone who actually has to live, work and possibly die in that situation. There are just some situations in which the average Joe’s opinion doesn’t matter and this is one of them.
While I’ve never been to war, I feel confident in saying that it’s like being on a completely different planet where everything and everyone wants you dead. That sounds pretty stressful to me. We need the most mentally, emotionally and physically competent people defending our country, because if we start giving our participation trophies in the United States military, people will die.