Identity and Politics

Since before even Albert Cashier, an American soldier in the Union Army during the Civil War, transgender service members and veterans have been a part of not only the fabric of our rich military history, but also our American History.

In recent years our identity has become a political bargaining tool that is beingas a battering ram to destroy gender-affirming care in the VA and D.O.D. healthcare systems. Opponents mention that there is an attack on cisgender women spaces by transgender women but that not only isn’t the case, but safe spaces already exist within the D.O.D. for transgender women and cisgender women such as support groups and social services. These spaces are essential for each of us. Our identity is intersectional.

Intersectionality is the overlapping of identities that form an individual’s sense of being and engage in the global community around them. We are not only transgender. Each healthcare space and session with a provider is, and should be, a safe space. Free from the jurisdiction of any law or regulation. We are also veterans in the same wars and conflicts as our cisgender siblings-in-arms. We need the same treatment for PACT Act presumptive conditions as our cisgender siblings-in-arms. We answered the same call as our cisgender siblings-in-arms. There are currently 15,000 serving transgender service people and over 134,000 that have served since Albert Cashier. Our service to our country unites us in our American heritage. Our service wasn’t political or served by politicians. Don’t let our healthcare be.

Respectfully,

TAVA