Originally published July 18, 2023 8:00 pm PDT
The female recruit considered resigning.
QUICK FACTS:
- An 18-year-old National Guard recruit considered resigning after she was forced to shower with a biological male claiming to be a woman.
- She was also forced to sleep in between two individuals who were allegedly in the process of transitioning from male to female.
- The recruit’s “extremely uncomfortable position” is a direct result of the Biden administration’s transgender policies.
- The matter was discussed during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing by Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD).
- “I’m aware of a situation; it was just brought to my attention — a young woman in the South Dakota National Guard experienced a situation at basic training, where she was sleeping in open bays and showering with biological males who had not had gender reassignment surgery, but were documented as females because they have begun the drug therapy process,” the senator said.
- He added, “This 18-year-old girl was uncomfortable with her situation, but had limited options on how to deal with it. If she raised her hand, she feared she’d be targeted for retaliation.”
- “She could have recycled which would have delayed her freshman college start and would not have provided a guarantee of a different situation. She could request to leave the Guard for religious purposes and not be able to pursue her dream of serving our country,” Rounds continued.
- Senator Rounds asked Biden’s nominee for chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General CQ Brown, how he would handle such a situation if confirmed by the Senate, to which Brown said, “as you’re being inclusive, you also don’t want to make other individuals uncomfortable.”
- “And so there’s a reason as we look at our policies and our approaches and get feedback like this, we have to take a look to see if we can improve on our, how we approach situations like this,” Brown stated.
- Rounds initially heard the story from the attorney general of the South Dakota National Guard, who was “very concerned.”
STATEMENT FROM DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE:
- The Department of Defense said in a statement to Fox News Digital, “DoD policy is that all Service members must be treated with dignity and respect.”
- “We would encourage any troop who’s feeling uncomfortable or has concerns about privacy in shared spaces to work through their chain of command. Commanders may employ reasonable accommodations to respect the privacy interests of Service members,” the statement read.
- Upon taking office, the Biden admin reversed a Trump-era ban on transgender individuals in the military.
- The current administration says on its website, “President Biden believes that gender identity should not be a bar to military service, and that America’s strength is found in its diversity.”
- According to the White House, “This question of how to enable all qualified Americans to serve in the military is easily answered by recognizing our core values.”
BACKGROUND:
- Republicans are pushing anti-woke measures in the annual defense bill, such as ending abortion funding for servicemembers and prohibiting sex reassignment surgeries for transgender servicepeople.
- The bill ultimately authorizes $874.2 billion to overturn the Pentagon’s abortion policy, restricts medical care for transgender individuals in the military, removes military DEI policies, and prohibits the Pentagon from applying Biden’s climate change initiatives.
- Rep. Matt Rosendale (R) from Montana introduced the provision banning sex reassignment surgery and hormone therapy for transgender servicepeople.
