A Note On Intersexed Service Members

[Guest Gina9223]

As of right now, I have 11 mil-spec people for 2010. Most are in the sandbox with one Allied nation service member included (not in the sandbox). No contractors this year.

This topic isn’t directly about Transgender mil-spec types, its about Intersexed mil-spec types. This year I’ve assisted 11 active duty mil-spec types (with 1 from one of our close allied nations) I've heard of 1 person who was discovered to be be Intersexed.

While most Transgender people I encounter report a pyschological evaluation along with legal department issues that delay out-processing from 3 months to a year, this one Intersexed person reported that from the time of their scan and the resultant diagnosis to sitting on their seabag at the bus station going home was 6 hours. [the person in question was gendered as male at birth, but has female reproductive organs internally. This is actually not that unusual. I went thru 2nd grade with someone with this issue and a good friend who lived down the street from me from 2nd grade thru 4th had the same condition. This is the 5th person I’ve heard of having this condition]

That’s messed up. If you’ve never encountered the situation, the vast majority of those IS never ‘KNOW’ it. They may ‘suspect something’ but being told, well, being told the military way is the worst way to be told every time. They don’t include any mental health evaluation or even require a mental health care professional to be on hand. They simply tell people in the following manner;

Telling a woman that she is CAIS and what that means (and I quote) “DUDE! You’re a DUDE, DUDE!” [result was a woman near suicidal for most of a month until her mother stepped in and made arrangements for her to see a real civilian therapist]

Telling a man that he is a chimera/mosaic (a person who’s cells include genetic structures of 46XX and 46XY) “You’re a freak of nature” [result, see below]

Telling another woman who was CAIS “You have a fake vagina! Your nothing but a he-she freak!” [result, a very peed off 3rd Class Petty Officer who made our lives hell for weeks afterwards]

Only 1 of those knew what they were and when they encountered the issue, they stood their ground [as in, telling us very bluntly her issues and why we were such shits and how the US Military is a farce]{she's right too}. But the other two and some others that I’m aware of did not ‘KNOW’. But everyone around them picked up on something and they were harassed growing up because the young girl was too manish and the young boy was too girlish. To endure that kind of abuse only to be confronted with a reality that agree’s with the abuser’s can be devastating and more so when done in the normal military manner.

So, if any of you active duty types encounter someone who’s IS, go easy on them and get them to talk and emote. It won’t fix anything but it will help them process the event. Also keep an eye on them for a few weeks, with this kind of life event it can cause on–going issues.

Just to quickly touch on Intersex issues in the US military.

Being Intersexed is considered to be ground for discharge due to physical defect.

Typically a medical board is conviened to determine both discharge and type.

Medical boards are typically 3 physicians, can be convended at any time and can be repealed.

The rest of the discharge rules are the same for everything else. For less than 3 years of active service you lose all benefits. Of the three I noted above, 2 were allowed to serve to the end of their initial enlistment with re-enlistment codes barring further oppurtunites.

The chimera/mosaic was me. I was in shock for a few weeks. um... think about what it feels like to get hit in the head with a lead pipe.

I managed to stay in ‘because'...

Because the doctor felt that my physical condition did not warrant a med board, because the person who actually found out my medical condition didn’t have the authority to conduct the tests that he took and finally the doctor was Gay and felt that everyone SHOULD serve if they wanted to. (heck, he really felt that if you were 18 you should serve for 4 years no matter what. Yeah, a right wing Gay man. His husband was just as right wing as he was too.{no, not offically married but they spent nearly 30 years together before they passed, so I call them husbands. You wanna disagree with me I'll explain it to ya behind the dumpsters Navy style!}

So, if your active, keep your eye's and ear's open ok? Give them an outlet to emote and figure themselves out. Usually all the hard stuff is done and over with the first week. The rest works itself out within a month. Long term medical stuff is on a case-by-case basis becuase IS stuff varies so greatly.