Trans people still banned from serving in U.S. military

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crisis of conscience?

Check the wikipedia page on his background.

He's insane.

You're not telling the whole story. For example, the medications taken by post-op transsexual women are not really all that different from women on birth control (and in fact some evidence suggests that they are safer, carrying less risk of blood clots).

This article also busts the "can't deploy with medication" myth:

Also, there are military contractors who are openly trans and have little to no problem out in the field, as this article shows.

Yes, but women who deploy and run out of birth control due to supply issues are able to cope indefinitely without any significant side effects. Asking a trans woman to go without hormone treatment for weeks or months is not the same thing.

Actually, it doesn't - it just makes a statement without any evidence to back it up.

I'm not saying that transsexuals aren't perfectly capable of performing military duties - I'm saying that allowing post-op transsexuals to join the military exposes the military to significant risk. Private military contractors don't operate under the same rules, and apparently some of them have decided to take on that increased risk - which is fine by me.

Generally, the services apply physical standards that make transsexualism a disqualifying condition which impacts on military fitness and a basis for a non-medical discharge.

If one is discharged for being transgender, then one's discharge my have coding on it that may make it hard for employment after service -- Employers can readily find information on different kinds of discharges and the codes entered on DD214s.

Under what set of circumstances do you imagine someone who leaked what Manning did wouldn't be the subject of an intense smear campaign?

At one point, an American asked one of the panels how they handle transgender personnel and any associated issues. The response from members of several foreign militaries was confusion about why there would possibly be a problem with allowing transgender people to serve.

I am now completely confident that our military could successfully navigate any challenges that arose. Americans regularly praise our troops as the most professional in the world. Arguing that they wouldn't be able to handle serving with openly transgender colleagues while the UK and many of our other Nato allies are easily doing just that impugns the honor of our service members.

Smear campaign?

The information came from his sister during Manning's trial.

I think it's highly likely that Manning's family were coerced into saying certain things. Ad-hominem smears are par for the course for whistleblowers; they are red herrings designed to distract us from the crimes that whistleblowers bring to light. It is foolish to entertain any of them them.

These soldiers look happy to be in each other's company. "You scrub my back and I'll scrub yours,"or something like that.

Smear campaign?

The information came from his sister during Manning's trial.

There is no compelling medical rationale for banning transgender military service, and medical regulations requiring the discharge of all transgender personnel are inconsistent with how the military regulates medical and psychological conditions.
Medical conditions related to transgender identity are the only gender-related conditions requiring discharge irrespective of fitness for duty.
Eliminating the ban would advance numerous military interests, including enabling commanders to better care for their service members.
Other military regulations have been updated to reflect the latest consensus of psychiatric experts on mental health issues, but while that consensus no longer classifies gender non-conformity as a mental illness, military regulations have not been amended to reflect the latest understanding of the scientific community about gender non-conformity.
The prohibition on medically-necessary cross-sex hormone treatment is based on inaccurate understandings of the complexity, risks and efficacy of such treatments, and is inconsistent with the fact that many non-transgender military personnel use prescribed medications of similar strength, even while deployed to combat zones.
Non-transgender personnel are allowed to undergo reconstructive surgeries, while transgender personnel are barred from obtaining medically-necessary gender-confirming surgery, at great cost to their physical and mental health.
Existing medical and other regulations are fully adequate to govern the service of transgender personnel and any related medical conditions that arise.
The US military can look to the experiences and standards of at least twelve allied militaries that allow transgender service, as well as several inclusive US federal agencies, as models in formulating administrative policy to address fitness testing, records and identification, uniforms, housing and privacy for transgender military service.