Posted on 04/22/2024 5:49:35 AM PDT by Red Badger
The military could seek to formally punish service members for refusing to use another service member’s preferred pronouns under existing policy, according to military experts.
A 2020 Equal Opportunity law opened the door for commanders to subject someone who refuses to affirm a transgender servicemember’s so-called gender identity to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) for charges related to harassment, Capt. Thomas Wheatley, an assistant professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. Such a move would likely infringe on a servicemember’s constitutional rights to uphold their conscience, but it might not prevent leaders from employing more subtle ways of disciplining service members.
Military experts told the DCNF Congress should step in before it’s too late.
The military “is right to want to protect the rights and welfare of its transgender service members. But it owes the same protection to those who share a different perspective on the issue, especially when that perspective is a deep-seated expression of personal conscience,” Wheatley told the DCNF.
None of the military’s rules explicitly prohibit so-called “misgendering,” when someone uses pronouns to describe a transgender person which do not correspond to the person’s new gender identity, Wheatley explained. However, existing guidance implies that using pronouns rejected by another person violates Military Equal Opportunity (MEO) regulations against sex-based harassment and discrimination.
The UCMJ enforces those regulations.
Service members could conceivably be court-martialed for “refusing to use another person’s self-identified pronouns, even when their refusal stems from principled religious conviction,” Wheatley told the DCNF. “This law applies to service members at all times and in all locations, even when they’re off duty and in the privacy of their off-post residence.”
UCMJ also prohibits “conduct unbecoming of an officer” and activity that could be seen to discredit the military institution — the same article the military uses to prosecute child pornographers and other acts of sexual deviance, he explained.
“Is it now ‘unbecoming’ and incompatible with service as a commissioned officer to openly hold sincere religious convictions surrounding the act of creation and the nature of human sex?” Wheatley asked.
Wheatley said his interest in the issue was sparked four years ago, when the Army updated its MEO policy stating “violations of MEO and Harassment Prevention and Response policies may result in disciplinary action under the UCMJ.”
The possibility of levying a criminal trial on a servicemember for perceived harassment if that person “misgendered” another service member troubled Wheatley, he said. The Supreme Court had just ruled on Bostock v. Clayton County in favor of the gay and transgender plaintiffs alleging their employers fired them on the basis of their self-described sexual orientation, or gender identity. Conservative justices warned the case could have far-reaching consequences for organizations operating based on religious belief and free exercise of religion in the workplace.
“I knew, given the cultural gap between the civilian world and the military, the issue would be overlooked as it concerned service members. So, I got to work,” he told the DCNF.
In a peer reviewed article recently published in the Texas Review of Law and Politics, Wheatley argued that, despite the existing EO policy, Articles 133 and 134 of the UCMJ are not strong enough to prosecute troops for spurning another’s preferred pronouns.
Under a legal doctrine that “obligates military courts to avoid interpreting the UCMJ in a way that brings it into conflict with the Constitution if possible, that would normally be the end of the analysis,” he wrote. But, the national security imperatives inbuilt with military service often justify curtailing a servicemember’s constitutional rights — for example, the UCMJ’s Article 134 “indecent language.”
Wheatley countered in the article that the military’s special mission can inform judicial analysis but does not require a separate standard.
“A court that applies a standard lower than strict scrutiny would be placing not just a thumb on the scale in the government’s favor, but an anvil — one which virtually guarantees victory for the government in every case where a service member asserts his or her First Amendment rights,” he wrote. It would be “tough” for the military to prove it had a strong enough mission-related argument to mandate gender-pronoun usage.
Arguments that might be considered, such as preserving harmony within military units and safeguarding transgender troops’ emotional and psychological well-being, are certainly important, he wrote. But the former relies too heavily on the vicissitudes of individual interpretation to survive judicial review, while the latter does not take into account the health of the servicemember seeking to live out their religious convictions.
“Preserving unit cohesion and safeguarding the mental and emotional health of transgender service members, though compelling government interests, do not justify the sweeping prior restraints on speech,” made possible in the Army policy, Wheatley wrote.
Previous case law shows that even in military contexts, the standard for what may be prohibited compelled speech is strong, he found.
Looking at previous cases of public employment law governing speech, where free speech has been more frequently challenged than in military-specific case law, he likewise found no strong case for mandating pronoun use.
“The use of one pronoun over another reflects the speaker’s private views on human sex and gender” and isn’t conditioned on the person’s employment, Wheatley argued.
The Pentagon referred the DCNF to the services, which did not respond to requests for comment by deadline.
Wheatley’s research highlights ongoing concerns about the military’s respect for matters of conscience.
Pentagon leaders have pushed diversity and inclusion as an indispensable component of warfighting effectiveness. Opponents say the focus focus on race, gender and sexual identity has distracted the military from more important issues and unfairly privileged minorities. DEI priorities have now overtaken matters of conscience in multiple domains.
In lawsuits over the slow-rolling of religious waivers to the COVID-19 vaccine, for example, victims argued the services issued blanket denials rather than considering each request individually, as they are legally required to do.
Defense Department documents, including the 2022 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Strategic Plan, discuss the freedom to “speak candidly” about issues as a “readiness imperative,” ensuring troops feel included as part of a whole.
“The military policy and legal infrastructure clearly exist to wage war on Americans with deeply-held traditional beliefs about man and woman,” William Thibeau, director of the Claremont Institute’s American Military Project, told the DCNF. Wheatley’s article “should be a red flag to policy makers and elected officials to end this tyranny of liberalism before it is formally levied against American Soldiers preferring to live in reality.”
Experts were not aware of any incidents where a branch of the armed services had attempted to use the UCMJ to punish a servicemember for refusing preferred pronouns.
Commanders do have a wide berth to discipline servicemembers in ways that do not involve a criminal trial but can still have serious implications for a servicemember’s career, possibly including separation from the military under less than honorable circumstances, Wheatley said. Such measures resolve more quickly, have a lower burden of proof than “are almost always shielded from public scrutiny.”
Instead of leaving it to chance, Congress could force the military to establish a servicemember’s “unqualified” right to use pronouns consistent with their religious convictions, a one-pager provided by Claremont suggested. The experts advocated stronger measures too, including decriminalizing unspecified MEO violations and to narrow its scope so that it only applies to activities a servicemember performs while on normal duty hours or contributing to an official military mission.
Congress should develop a public record of incidents in the military where religious freedom is seen to come under threat, the document stated.
Claremont suggested the military conduct regular training on the importance of religious freedom throughout the armed forces and study ways to strengthen protections on service members’ religious expression.
Wheatley also said service chiefs could consider demands for a service member to speak in violation of his or her religious convictions as harassment.
Back in the day , a lot of soldiers pronouns were maggot and shit bird. I think that would still work today.
The job of the military is, as Rush used to say, kill people and break things. Enough with the wokeness!
Freak shows all the time these days
They yes They!
Them yes Them!
Doesn’t just roll off the tip of your tongue? /S
Midshipmen and junior Naval officers were addressed as “Mister” when I served.
Besides being an infringement on free speech, do they realize how many people are in a military unit. Pronouns are used to simplify speech, not to make it more complicated.
Just use name tag names. Pvt smith said put smith wouldn’t go on kp until pvt smith back from leave.
In Marine Corps boot camp we were not allowed to use pronouns.
In referring to ourselves or others we had to use rank. We could not use ‘I’ or ‘You’ or ‘we’..................
I am so glad to be retired and away from any military bases.
Nothing like that in the army, but it’s a natural fit. Just don’t use them.
“Congress should step in before it’s too late.”
Maybe use their rank instead. Yes sergeant!
Remember how ludicrous and over-the- top Gary Busey’s character was in the movie Under Seige? Is that the new norm?
That’s the plan......................
Military.com, 2020: Here's the Marine Corps' Plan to End Gender Segregation at Boot Camp. The Marine Corps was tasked with explaining its short- and long-term plans for integrating recruit training, which was mandated by the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. Signed into law in December, 2020. “Gender integration at Marine Corps Recruit Training remains a top priority." “The outcome the Marine Corps desires for gender integration is for every male recruit to train alongside a female recruit within the same company.”” All-male recruit companies trained solely by men will be made “obsolete,”
Top Marine stresses need for more female infantry officers, research on 1-year paid maternity leave 2/25/2020, 5:18:38 PM · by jazusamo · 87 replies The Washington Times ^ | February 25, 2020 | Douglas Ernst The nation’s top Marine, Commandant Gen. David Berger, took to social media Tuesday morning to stress the service’s “most important matters.” Yet to get an abortion=murder their child, Navy service members are to be reimbursed for travel expenses and if they need to go to a different state they can be provided with up to three weeks off, with pay.
The Blaze, December 22, 2022: Marines told to stop using ‘sir,’ ‘ma’am/mater’ to avoid ‘misgendering’ superiors The University of Pittsburgh received $2 million to conduct the study, which examined gender-integrated recruit training in military settings. "The Army, Navy, and Coast Guard effectively de-emphasize gender in an integrated environment," the report claimed. Marine Corps leaders are reportedly not convinced that transitioning to gender-neutral salutations would be as simple as the 739-page report suggests.
Biden Pentagon Orders Military Chaplains To Bless Putting Male Soldiers In Female Showers And Bedrooms, The Federalist : if a person “self-identifies” as a person of the opposite sex, and if the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) changes a person’s bureaucratic “gender marker,” a man claiming to be a woman must be treated as a woman, and vice versa... Revised rules also permit cross-dressing and other “transitioning” behaviors while in “on-duty status.”... regulations do not protect or even mention rights of religious liberty for chaplains and people of faith. Nor do they provide options for doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel who object to transgender ideology on moral or ethical grounds.<
Moreover, based on Defense Medical Epidemiology Database (DMED) diagnosis codes related to transgenderism, tthe number of occurrences in active-duty military is on the rise—and it’s an exponential rise.
Along with this, Pentagon study finds rising suicide rates in military 9/27/2019, 12:49:01 AM · by fwdude · 26 replies The Hill ^ | 09/26/19 | Ellen Mitchell Suicide rates in the military were higher in 2018 compared to the previous five years despite efforts to prevent such deaths, according to an annual Pentagon report released Thursday. A total of 541 active duty, National Guard and Reserve troops committed suicide last year, the Department of Defense Annual Suicide Report found.
Heritage Index Rates Navy, Marines ‘Marginal’ In Ability to Counter Current Threats 11/4/2019, 11:30:14 AM · by robowombat · 25 replies USNI News ^ | October 30, 2019 8:01 PM | John Grady Heritage Index Rates Navy, Marines ‘Marginal’ In Ability to Counter Current Threats By: John Grady October 30, 2019 8:01 PM The Navy and the Marine Corps have been assessed as “marginal” in their ability to meet the challenges from rival powers in Beijing and Moscow, as well as regional threats coming from Tehran and Pyongyang, according to annual report on U.S. military strength from The Heritage Foundation
Pentagon Report: China Now Has World’s Largest Navy as Beijing Expands Military Influence 9/2/2020, 7:28:08 PM · by Retain Mike · 8 replies US Naval Institute ^ | September 1, 2020 5:31 PM | John Grady
Countering this is the news of, The Pentagon Forming a Diversity and Inclusion Office, and allowing transgenders to serve in the military,
and with the Pentagon even ensuring free gender reassignment surgery for active military personnel,
while the chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer at the Department of Defense's education wing, a self-described "woke administrator," attacked a person for having the ""CAUdacity to say that black people can be racist too,"
while Army mandatory training now including training Army personnel to know what to do in such scenarios as when a soldier who was "assigned" a biological gender at birth says he/she identifies as another gender, and lives as such in off-duty hours, but is not requesting to be treated as such while on duty, versus if such later requests to be identified as according to their chosen gender during duty hours, and/or experiences increased distress relating to his/her gender identity;
while apparently as part of the Naval Sea Systems Command Inclusion & Engagement Council’s Diversity Team's video series called “NAVSpEAks,” the Navy posts video on "the importance of using correct pronouns as well as polite etiquette when you may not be sure of someone's pronouns," and now Military Could Hit Troops With Court-Martials For Refusing To Use Preferred Pronouns, Experts Say
Daily Caller ^ | April 21, 2024 7:58 PM ET | MICAELA BURROW - INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, DEFENSE
The military could seek to formally punish service members for refusing to use another service member’s preferred pronouns under existing policy, according to military experts. A 2020 Equal Opportunity law opened the door for commanders to subject someone who refuses to affirm a transgender servicemember’s so-called gender identity to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) for charges related to harassment...
which is 'Keep Trying' — Naval Sea Systems Command Tells Americans to Advance Transgenderism,
consistent with "Navy Says Sailors Can Use Whichever Locker Room Suits Their Gender Identity,"
as well as the Air Force being with WOKEism in creating 'LGBTQ' and 'Indigenous Nations Equality' Focus Groups,
and also authorizing the use of gender pronouns in signature blocks,
and hosting a drag show at festival at Joint Base Langley-Eustis (JBLE) on July, 2022, which also includes a poem on “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion,” and also posted a tweet celebrating Pride Month that depicted a U.S. soldier saluting not the American flag, but a Pride flag,
and the CIA funds a 'cisgender millennial with anxiety disorder' campaign, and with the
with the former posting rainbow bullets, and the latter a rainbow colored arm and hand in salute (essentially to the flag of Sodom)
along with the Navy's first all gay U.S. Navy helicopter crew,
thereby adding to the list surrender to demons such as,
U.S. Army Announces the Allowance of Lipstick, Nail Polish, and Better Breastfeeding
In the Battle for Inclusion, U.S. Navy Employs the Weapon of Interior Decorating
Navy Says Sailors Can Use Whichever Locker Room Suits Their Gender Identity
U.S. Army Revolutionizes Its Fitness Standards so Girls Can Pass
Army Secretary Champions What’s ‘Important’: Making ‘Marginalized Communities’ ‘Feel Included’
The Army Will Force Female Soldiers to Shower With Biological Males,
and with military generals calling for Increased Diversity and More Women in Combat,
and changing its song to be gender-neutral,
and Forcing Marines to Make Boot Camp Coed,
and feeding cadets cultural Marxist propaganda about gender and masculinity therein,
to its new diversity and inclusion operation from West Point
and for its Special Operations Command ,
while showing a rapid response readiness to engage in online combat with the likes of Tucker Carson and other such enemies
thus nuking Jesus-themed candies on an Air Force bases
(although turbans and hijabs are allowed,) stop making faith-based Dog Tags,
and prohibiting service members from “liking” or reposting "extremist" views on social media (depending on all the circumstances involved) as part of its prohibition against actively engaging in extremist activities,
Which behavior is consistent with working to rid the military itself of “extremism”
while the US Army is teaching officers at the Command General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth that white people can’t experience racism. The definition of racism is taught in an elective course called “Race and Gender in U.S. Military History” which is available for up to 32 students each year. The course also defines gender as “a set of socially constructed characteristics, such as norms and behaviors, typically associated with being masculine, feminine, androgynous, or other.” “The Command and General Staff College is at the forefront of building Army leaders ready to fight and win our nation’s wars,” Camara told American Military News.
Then though in a somewhat personal civilian incident, a New Jersey mother was reported to local police by a U.S. Army Lt. Col because she criticized her child's elementary school for displaying posters in the hallway about sexual preferences. U.S. Army Lt. Col. Christopher Schilling also used his military title to engage in an email thread with U.S. Air Force Major Nathanial Lesher, who assured Schilling that he would forward his concern to North Hanover Township Police Chief Robert Duff "for awareness." Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst confirmed that it notified law enforcement about the exchange as part of "common information-sharing practice among law enforcement entities."
O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens. (Ezra 9:6)
Which shame has as its capstone of damnation not only paying for troops and their family members to travel for abortions but the promotion of the abomination of homosexual unions and its relations, which are overall deleterious to individuals and the nation, thereby essentially saluting the flag of Sodom, as of United States of Sodom:
March 30, 2023: (Navy) 'International Transgender Day of Visibility' offers a chance to support freedom of expression, association 
(https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Media/News/SavedNewsModule/Article/3343199/international-transgender-day-of-visibility-offers-a-chance-to-support-freedom/)
(Air Force proudly recognizes and celebrates generations of LGBTQI+ service)
The above image is tragically actually from the military, a Air Force Facebook post: "RADfertility November 11, 2021 · As we celebrate #VeteransDay, it is our honor to introduce you to Tech Sergeant Bryanna Dahl, her wife, Lauren and their amazing RAD baby Bennett! 🇺🇸 Currently stationed at the Dover Air Force Base, Sgt. Dahl just celebrated 7 years wearing this uniform! We had the privilege of helping their family grow and following their journey to Bennett also known as “Bennie.” On this day, we share our endless gratitude to those who serve and have served our country along with the supportive families behind them. Thank you for fighting for our freedoms – we thank you yesterday, today and forever #ThankYou #DoverAFB #RADfamily" - https://www.facebook.com/RADfertility/photos/a.146746165350896/7215339618491480/?type=3
Also, last I saw, More Than 75% Of Americans Aged 17-24 Aren’t Fit For Military Service: (DOD) 77% of Americans in the above age group could not physically qualify to enter the armed forces – a 6% increase from 2017..CDC statistics also show that 19 percent of active-duty service members suffered from obesity in 2020, which is up from 16 percent in 2015. A U.S. Army general bluntly said that young Americans are either too obese, too sick, or too criminal to serve in the military. we have are obesity, we have pre-existing medical conditions, we have behavioral health problems, we have criminality, people with felonies, and we have drug use,” Lt. Gen. Xavier Brunson told The Spokesman-Review of Spokane, Washington.
And the Army dropped grenade throwing as a requirement to graduate because new recruits could not throw far enough. “We are finding that there are a large number of trainees that come in that quite frankly just physically don’t have the capacity to throw a hand grenade 20 to 25 [82 feet] to 30 meters."
Consistent with such, physical fitness assessment failures being now scrubbed from sailors’ records, a clean slate that will allow them to remain in the service,
and with lower fitness standards for women in the Army,
while nearly half of female soldiers are still failing the new Army Fitness Test,
Also, there is the Intellectual Decline of the Army Officer Corps. The size of the U.S. military in 2017 was half of what it was in 1990, and in general I think many signed up for the benefits rather than patriotism. 16% were women and racial and ethnic minorities made up 43%, and a poll from the Military Times and Syracuse University's Institute for Veterans and Military Families conducted in July 2020, 49.9 percent of 1,018 active-duty military respondents had an unfavorable view of the president, compared to about 38 percent who had a favorable view. That poll showed Biden with a 4-percentage-point lead over Trump
Fewer Americans want to serve in the military. Cue Pentagon panic 4/10/2019, 6:55:46 PM · by GuavaCheesePuff · 70 replies The Guardian ^ | April 10, 2019 | William M. Arkin.official military polling shows that fewer and fewer young Americans consider the military as a career or as a transitional step – only some 12.5% – the lowest number in a decade.
Yet despite conservatives being the most patriotic, the Army’s top civilian leader pushed back amid Republican criticisms that the military is going too "woke," arguing such critiques are deepening an already troubling recruiting crisis.
BS scare tactic story. Nothing to see here. Move along.
“Maggot” isn’t a pronoun. Just saying...
It is if I say it is!
“F___/You”, those are my pronouns.
My pronoun is “Exit”
I have a lot of doors and streets reserved only for me.
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