Transgender ideology has weakened the US military — it’s dangerous to pretend otherwise

Jill Biden at this year's White House Pride Month celebrations.
Jill Biden at this year’s White House Pride Month celebrations. Her husband removed restrictions on admitting transgender-identifying soldiers to the military - Saul Loeb/AFP

I remember a friend’s dismay after her dream to join the Marines was squashed because she had asthma. There are many stories of Americans being disqualified to serve because of seemingly negligible conditions. But as the daughter of a Vietnam-era Army captain, I know the strict criteria are crucial for military lethality.

This is why the Biden administration’s removal of restrictions on the admission of transgender-identifying soldiers to the military, many of whom receive invasive sex change surgeries and hormones at taxpayer expense, was a slap in the face to otherwise able-bodied rejects of the US armed forces. Incoming president and commander-in-chief Donald Trump’s reported plan to revisit Biden’s rules is consistent with the military’s central mission of deterring and winning wars.

It is outrageous enough for millions of Americans that they are forced to subsidise gender ideology. The Pentagon spent $15 million between 2016 and 2021 to treat 1,892 transgender troops, including $11.5 million for psychotherapy and $3.1 million for 243 surgeries, according to Defense Department data provided to Military.com

But what adds insult to injury is that the government calls bad eyesight or hearing loss a liability but denies that there is any potential problem with enlisting a gender-confused person who may become a permanent patient of the medical industry if they medically transition. This double-standard is discriminatory, as well as illogical.

“America is stronger, at home and around the world, when it is inclusive,” a 2021 White House press release from President Biden read. “The military is no exception.”

Medical care

In practice, a gender-inclusive military is a weaker one. People who require frequent medical care are ineligible to join the military. By this logic, transgender people who have begun medicalisation should also be barred.

There is plenty of evidence to justify such an approach. A 2019 scientific study found that trans-identifying men who received hormones as part of their transition had an observable loss of bone density and signs of osteoporosis of the lumbar spine and distal arm. A UK-based male detransitioner in his mid-30s named Ritchie Herron told me that oestrogen injections caused his hips to degenerate to the age of an 80 year-old, as well as causing autoimmune and geriatric issues.

A 2022 scientific study, meanwhile, determined that the use of oestrogen for trans-identifying men “seems to confer an increased risk” of a heart attack or stroke. In those men, brain tumours were the most frequently reported adverse reaction followed by heart issues.

These are only the hormone-induced side effects for men, who compose the majority of trans-identifying individuals on active duty. Complications from the reconstruction of the penis into a vagina happen at rates ranging from 20 to 70 per cent, according to multiple studies.

Men and women who transition commit themselves to lifelong follow-up appointments because of these intrusive procedures. The frequent medical regimen of hormones and other pharmaceuticals surely makes them less likely to be deployable at sudden notice, a key facet of military readiness and power projection.

Besides the physical risks, the elephant in the room is mental illness. While activist groups have tried to destigmatise gender dysphoria as a reality to always be affirmed, other medics contend that it is a delusion to believe you were born in the wrong body. Rather than address the root cause of any psychological distress, activist doctors and therapists have been accused of allowing ideology to take precedence over appropriate medical and psychological treatment.

It is not discriminatory to expect that transgender people who want to enlist should be mentally and physically fit to serve. Military service is inherently stressful, particularly in combat situations. Any policy should be based on medical and scientific data, rather than gender dogma.

Gender ideology is a distraction from the military’s primary function to protect and defend the homeland from foreign enemies. Trump would be wise to confront it.

Caroline Downey is a staff writer at National Review and visiting fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum