Maybe it was too much to hope for. To hope that President Obama would say the word “transgender” in his latest State Of The Union address. I’m very aware that the visible part of the transgender sub-community of the LGBT community is pretty small, and my sub-community’s concerns are easily lost in broader pictures. But the President, prior to becoming President, mentioned transgender people and acknowledged our humanity. When as a candidate he was asked if he believed transgender people should be included in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), he told Political Affairs magazine, “Absolutely. The transgendered community has to be protected. I just don’t have any tolerance for that sort of intolerance. And I think we need to legislate aggressively to protect them.” In other words, the President knows transgender people exist, and knows that they experience discrimination. But, his speech didn’t acknowledge transgender people or the discrimination many of us have experienced. One example of this was found in his referencing of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) repeal legislation with regards to ROTC programs. He stated this: “Our troops come from every corner of this country. They’re black, white, Latino, Asian, Native Ameri-can. They are Christian and Hindu, Jewish and Muslim. And, yes, we know that some of them are gay. Starting this year, no American will be forbidden from serving the country they love because of who they love. And with that change, I call on all our college campuses to open their doors to our military recruiters and ROTC. It is time to leave behind the divisive battles of the past. It is time to move forward as one nation.” I wouldn’t argue that lesbians, gays and bisexuals shouldn’t join the military after the repeal of DADT is implemented because transgender people can’t join, nor would I argue that they shouldn’t join ROTC programs. Many of the schools that eliminated the ROTC programs did so because the programs didn’t conform to the school’s anti-discrimination policies. So if a school didn’t allow ROTC programs on their campus because they didn’t conform to the school’s antidiscrimination policies, then it would be hypocritical to allow ROTC programs back on their campuses if the antidiscrimination policies now include gender identity. That wouldn’t be a divisive act, it would be a school standing up for fully inclusive equal opportunities in accordance with their antidiscrimination policies. The President also stated during his State Of The Union address: “Tonight, let us speak with one voice in reaffirming that our nation is united in support of our troops and their families. Let us serve them as well as they’ve served us, by giving them the equipment they need, by providing them with the care and benefits that they have earned and by enlisting our veterans in the great task of building our own nation.” Disabled transgender veterans are often not provided with care and benefits they’ve earned by their service to country. The Palm Center and the Transgender American Veterans Association (TAVA) published a study in 2008 of 660 transgender veterans. The study found that transgender veterans aren’t being served by our nation as well as transgender veterans have served our nation. I hold President Obama in high regard, and have appreciated what his administration has done for this nation, such as health care reform. I would have liked to have seen a more robust version of health care reform, nevertheless, I appreciate that the reform was accomplished at all. And for the broader LGBT community, federal hate crimes legislation was passed into law, as well as a repeal of DADT. The Obama Administration has been the most transgender-friendly administration to date. This has been the first administration to appoint out transgender people, and it’s the first administration to develop anti-discrimination policies to include gender identity within the Office of Personnel Management and Housing and Urban Develop-ment. The State Department, too, has new rules in place making it easier for transgender people to obtain passports with appropriate gender markers. I just wish the President would have better acknowledged the inequalities that all LGBT community members face, especially trans-gender people and especially trans- gender veterans. On one level, it seems like I’m asking a lot from our President, but on another level it seems like the President should be aware that equality means equality, and progress towards equality isn’t the same as having achieved it. I appreciate what he’s done, but I wish he’d do more, too.
