As U.S. politicians continue to debate whether to let gays serve openly in the American military, the Canadian Forces have issued a new policy detailing how the organization should accommodate transsexual and transvestite troops specifically. Soldiers, sailors and air force personnel who change their sex or sexual identity have a right to privacy and respect around that decision, but must conform to the dress code of their "target" gender, says the supplementary chapter of a military administration manual.When armies start "including" dudes whose "psychological troubles" can be temporarily assuaged by wearing pantyhose and mascara, military discipline is a goner. But then, in our all-"inclusive" era of "human rights," that consideration must take a back seat to helping a beleaguered minority feel warm 'n' fuzzy (and I don't mean the angora sort).
A gay-rights advocate hailed the controversial guidelines as a progressive approach to people whose gender issues can trigger life-threatening psychological troubles, while some within the Forces say such a focus is ill-timed and representative of a headquarters staff that is out of touch with the immediate needs of the military.
Cherie MacLeod, executive director of the support group Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) Canada, said she has helped a number of Forces members undergoing sex changes, surgery the military now funds.
"This is an important step towards recognizing a community that has always struggled for equal rights and basic human protection," Ms. Mac-Leod said.
"When government becomes more inclusive, over time, society will follow."...
Update: My (rejected) letter:
The news that transexual and transvestive Canadian soldiers may get to dress according to their "target 'gender'' would have been bad news indeed for Corporal Max Klinger. In the world of TV's MASH, Klinger spent most of his time dressed in frilly unmentionables and hoop skirts a la Scarlet O'Hara, his way of showing he was psychologically unfit for duty under the Army's Section 8 and should therefore be sent home poste haste. (Amusingly, the news is reported by a Mr. Blackwell, no relation, I assume, to the late gentlemen who used to compile an annual best-and-worst-dressed list.)
Today, of course, we live in a far more enlightened era and are much more sensitive to men who share Klinger's wardrobe proclivities; today, the sight of a strapping man in pearls and heels is an occasion for celebration and pious lectures about "inclusion," and not questions about the suitabily for military service of those whose "psychological troubles" can be temporarily eased via pantyhose and a really cute purse.
Poor Klinger! No doubt these days he'd be on the receiving end of one of those lectures for feigning transsexualism--and perhaps even a complaint to a "human rights" commission--for hurting the "feelings" of the cross-dressing lobby.
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