Ben Carson on Transgender in the Military

While speaking at a town hall hosted by Concerned Veterans for America in Waterloo, Iowa, on Saturday, the retired neurosurgeon questioned the need to allow transgender people to join the USA armed forces, reports CBS News.

Sound familiar? Oh yeah, it’s nearly – sorry – EXACTLY the same bias that we used to have about gay people in the military with Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. “We have too many important things to do when our men and women are out there fighting the enemy”. Earlier this year, in an interview with Fusion’s Jorge Ramos, Carson said he supported separate bathrooms for transgender people, because “it is not fair for them to make everybody else uncomfortable”.

‘Sexuality, ‘ however, is a separate issue from gender identity, which is the issue transgender troops face, though Carson did not articulate that difference during his remarks.

What do you think about Ben Carson’s comments about transgender troops and women in the military?

This baseless fear of the transgender community extends well past the military.

Carson isn’t the only presidential candidate to weigh in on the topic of transgender military members. “It’s not necessary, you don’t need to talk about that, we need to talk about how to eliminate the enemy”. Give me a break.

“I like the old, you know, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” philosophy”, Carson said of the former military ban on the gay community. According to Ben Carson, transgender troops represent an experiment for the American military which could go wrong. “That choice is to take care of them over there in safe areas and that’s what they want”, Carson said. Carson said, according to ABC News. While Carson did not state whether he would fight the policy’s repeal, he did say that a Carson administration would run by its principles.

He added that “if a woman wants to meet those standards, and she can meet those standards, I won’t say ‘No.’ But what woman wants to go to the front line, to the dirt and the slime – I mean, if they want to do that and they can meet the requirements, I wouldn’t deny them”. All the success I’ve had in life is due to women.