After 20 years in the Army, Master Sergeant Amiah Sale’s future hangs in the balance.
The Trump administration has made it a mission to purge all transgender service members from the military, but as the trans military ban makes its way through the courts, some service members, like Sale, are spending their days in limbo.
A lot of us join pre realization. It’s a way to “man up” both for trans women trying desperately to become enough of a man like they were “supposed to be” and a masculine career that conservative parents approve of for closeted trans men. Then, especially if you’re an officer, once you’re in and used to it it’s a career with great benefits including a full pension after 20 years and the alternative is often a full career change.
Oh also enlisting is a popular “career of last resort” for people struggling to function in society without any known disqualifying disabilities. Incidentally, a lot of trans people’s pre realization dysphoria leads to having no idea why you can’t just get your shit together and develop discipline. And since the military promises it’ll give you discipline it can be attractive, especially when combined with the prior paragraph.
Yeah this was me. I didn’t really have any concept of self aside from what my dad was doing and that’s what he did. So that’s what I was going to do. It paid really well but once I realized that the gig was up I had to leave or else get caught into the political quagmire going on now.