Thread by @NotableDesister

How do so many transgender people end up in the military?

People ask that question over and over again and others frequently point them to me for the answer.

So here's a thread with plausible explanations to explain the phenomenon of the Pentagon's transgender military problem.

My stance on transgender military service. If you can't serve as your birth sex and your gender dysphoria is disrupting your ability to serve because of comorbid mental health issues associated with the disorder, then you should be barred from serving.

mercatornet.com/mobile/view/th…

Dr. Ray Blanchard @BlanchardPhD and Dr. Michael Bailey @profjmb describe two types of transsexuals: those with autogynephilia such as myself and the homosexual transsexual (HSTS). It's highly unlikely that many HSTS join the military.

researchgate.net/publication/58…

Men with troubled childhoods and a history of sexual abuse entering the military are well-documented. The military is equally guilty of vigorously recruiting them. That's how I got there.

latimes.com/science/scienc…

The profound effects of childhood sexual abuse on the male psyche and sense of identity.

jimhopper.com/pdf/Lisak_Inte…

The "flight into hypermasculinity theory."

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

"Gender identity disorder is about five times more prevalent among VA patients than among the general population, and the rate of suicidal behavior among Veterans with the disorder is 20-fold that of the general VA population, according to a new study." research.va.gov/currents/fall2…

An explanation for how childhood sexual abuse turns into a sexual paraphilia:

"What if people are engaging in certain sexual behaviors to cope or to deal with PTSD or other mental health problems?"

research.va.gov/currents/0617-…

The cross-dressing sexual paraphilia becomes gender dysphoria because the underlying cause was untreated.

"Later in life, sometimes in their 50s or 60s, cross-dressing men may present for medical care because of gender dysphoria symptoms"

merckmanuals.com/professional/p…

While I was originally diagnosed with gender dysphoria and treated with hormones for six years, I've since been diagnosed with a sexual paraphilia disorder.

"The crude suicide rate among veterans with transgender-related diagnoses across the 10-year period was approximately 82/100,000 person-years, which approximated the crude suicide death rates for other serious mental illness."

liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.108…

In transgender, MTFs cross-dressing is frequently portrayed as a sign of being female. A more plausible explanation is it becomes part of compulsive sexual behavior (CSB) as an escape from anxiety disorders related to PTSD or other mental illnesses.

mayoclinic.org/diseases-condi…

After becoming addicted to pornography while in the Army, I began cross-dressing.

"Acting out sexually. At this point, many men make a dangerous jump and start acting out sexually. They move from the paper and plastic images of porn to the real world."

focusonthefamily.com/marriage/divor…

Renee Richards: "I wish there could have been an alternative way, but there wasn’t in 1975. . . . Today there are better choices, including medication, for dealing with the compulsion to cross-dress and the depression that comes with gender confusion.” I agree it's a compulsion.

Link to the Renee Richards article:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

"Finally, some of the men described ways in which they compensated for chronic feelings of inadequacy. They sought assurances through institutional identifications (exactly one half of the men in this sample had served in the armed forces)"

jimhopper.com/pdf/Lisak_Inte…