hokiewolf said:
what are the societal benefits of transsexual men being allowed to dress in open locker rooms?
Also, have you ever seen someone use the handicap lift at a public pool?
There are social benefits to not stigmatizing minorities.
I think you mean transexual women being allowed to dress... as in, people assigned male at birth changing in female locker rooms.
Locker rooms should be kept separate until adult ages and preferably into adulthood if possible (trans lockers or showers may be ideal) but in an institutional setting like the military (especially in the field or in combat) this may not be possible. I think in certain, very limited circumstances it's not unreasonable to ask adults to not act juvenile about body parts.
I do think it's ironic that nobody seems to care that compared to trans soldiers, many times more gay men and women in the military - that are openly attracted to the gender they're showering with - seem to do so without issue but when it's a hormonally but non-surgically-transitioned trans women it's *gasp* a *P E N I S*. It just feels so juvenile. Many people in America are really good at objectifying and sexualizing non-sexual nudity though so it's par for the course.
Behavior is a completely different story. The military has strict codes against coercive, harassing, abusive, or assaulting behaviors and - the unfortunate difficulties women face reporting sex assault normally notwithstanding - I'd think that a trans woman, in the military, openly showering with cis women soldiers, would ab-so-****ing-lutely be minding her p's and q's because she has to know all eyes are on her and her behavior, monitoring for any misstep.
I do think the original complainant alleging she felt uncomfortable sleeping between two trans soldiers feels completely petty. In the field she may have to sleep amongst cis men. If she can't make it through being bunked between two trans women in a highly structured environment, it sounds like either she just doesn't like trans people or believe being trans is a thing, or her story is being trumped up by political opportunists.
There are several studies out there I've read about foreign militaries seeing a sharp decrease in sexual harassment when the genders mix much more frequently during living and training.
FTR, I've said on here many times before I don't think trans women athletes should be competing at high levels against cis women. Rec and lower-level sports no biggie (until high school maybe?). But by the time athletes are entering and through puberty, the genetic advantages are too great to ignore even when on hormone therapy.
I have not seen anyone use the handicap lift at a pool.
