A young female recruit to the U.S. military was required to shower and sleep with two biological males who were reportedly transitioning to identify as female, according to a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Both of the gender-transitioning individuals had fully intact male genitalia but were allegedly taking medication to change gender.
The report first came to the attention of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) learned of the issue from the adjutant general of his state’s National Guard, who was concerned after speaking with the 18-year-old recruit, reported Fox News.
The recruit was afraid to speak out because of how it might affect her career in the military, according to Rounds.
“The respect that this young recruit should have received and the privacy that she should have had, she was being deprived of,” said Rounds, per Fox.
When asked what the recruit could have done about the situation, Rounds told Fox, “Her options were not good. She could have basically resigned or stepped away. She could have started over again. But nonetheless, it was an extremely uncomfortable position. And I think this is one of the reasons why we’re not meeting our recruitment goals now.”
“Most of the focus [under the Biden administration] is on the transgender individuals, not on the individuals who are working with them,” Rounds concluded.
Fox received a statement from the Pentagon, which said, “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.”
President Trump required people serving in the military to be identified and classified by their biological sex. President Biden overturned that policy during his first month in office.
“President Biden believes that gender identity should not be a bar to military service, and that America’s strength is found in its diversity,” the White House said in a statement at the time. “This question of how to enable all qualified Americans to serve in the military is easily answered by recognizing our core values.”
“In 2016, a comprehensive study requested by the Department of Defense found that enabling transgender individuals to serve openly in the United States military would have only a minimal impact on military readiness and healthcare costs. The study also concluded that open transgender service has had no significant impact on operational effectiveness or unit cohesion in foreign militaries,” the statement continued.
