Sunday marks one year since the Pentagon enacted its policy restricting the service of transgender troops. Nic Talbott is still determined to enlist: “I know I can do this; I just need to be given the chance.'
, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have weighed in, saying transgender people should be allowed to serve.
Supporters of the ban cite medical costs in treating transgender-related issues. But a report by the non-partisan RAND Corp. found that paying for transgender troops’ health care needs would amount to about $8 million a year and the consequences on military readiness would be negligible.in February 2019 showed that the Pentagon spent nearly $8 million to treat more than 1,500 transgender troops since 2016, including 161 surgical procedures.
Everyone who joins the military must meet general fitness requirements, Minter said. “That is what is so perverse about this policy. The only thing this policy does is exclude people who would otherwise meet those standards.”Talbott, now 26, felt “different” as a child, he said. “I wanted to rough house, I had short hair, I liked boy’s clothing. I wasn’t quite fitting in with the rest of the group.
When he was a 12, he had a light bulb moment when a friend said the word “transgender” to him and he looked up the meaning online. “It dawned on me, oh my gosh, this is what’s going on with me. This is exactly what I was feeling.”At first, he was hesitant to tell friends. But when he did, he recalls the usual response: “Yeah, Nic, we have known that for years.”– a conflict between a person’s assigned birth gender and the gender they identify.
In his last year as an undergrad at Kent State, a class kindled an interest in national security. “A professor pulled me aside and said ‘why aren’t you in the military. This is what you should do.’” Talbott explained that he was transgender, and the teacher said “this is the stupidest reason” not to enlist.After graduation, Talbott contacted military recruiters to no avail. Still, while he shifted between jobs as a bus driver, a delivery manager and a trucker, he held fast to his aspirations.
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