OPINION:
When is this woke nonsense going to end? A recent Defense Department instruction update stipulates that if someone “self-identifies” as a person of the opposite sex, he or she must be treated as that preferred sex. Military commanders, chaplains, doctors, nurses and military men and women at all levels must endorse and act on this ideological belief — or suffer career penalties. “Misgendering” of people with the wrong pronouns is forbidden.
What is happening to our military? Ominously, it is no longer being led by serious people. Are pillow fights going to replace hand-to-hand combat in basic training? Will Sesame Street characters become battalion mascots? Will dresses and high heels be the next military dress uniform? This sounds funny, but it is no laughing matter for the security of our country. The people who are finding this humorous are the Chinese, Russians, North Koreans and Iranians.
There are many reasons a person can be disqualified from joining the military, including depression, allergies, scoliosis, herpes, bunions, anxiety disorder and bipolar disorder. Shouldn’t gender dysphoria be on that list? The American Psychological Association identifies it as a condition associated with “clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.” The purpose of a military establishment is to kill people and destroy things. I’d much rather have someone with bunions than a clinically distressed or impaired person tote a rifle in my defense.
RON PHIPPS
Annapolis, Maryland
