• cowboycrustation [he/him]OPM
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    10 months ago

    Glad things are going well. Sounds like you’ve got a bright future ahead of you. Having people who support and accept you makes all of the difference in the world.

    Funnily enough, I’m in the same situation. My friend who is trans wants to go into the military too because under Biden they will cover transition. But it’s like…it’s the military, dude. That can change at the drop of the hat. But it’s his life, not mine, so there’s only so much I can do to dissuade him from it.

    • Lumelore (She/her)
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      10 months ago

      That’s the same reason why my friend is going too. As much as I think it’s a bad idea, it is her life and she says she’s excited for it, so I guess I have to be excited for her too.

      • cowboycrustation [he/him]OPM
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        10 months ago

        Nah, you don’t have to pretend to be excited for her if you aren’t. All you have to do is respect the choice that she makes after giving her your input on it.

        Good thing is that they don’t put trans people on the front lines since they are reliant on medication. She will more likely than not come out of it physically unscathed. Coming out mentally unscathed is a whole other beast.

        • Lumelore (She/her)
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          10 months ago

          She is going to be a combat medic, which according to her means she’s going to be on the front lines with a group of soldiers, although she won’t be doing any fighting herself.

          I have a lot of family members that were in the military including my father, so they understand what it’s like. I grew up with my parents telling me to never join the military and how bad it is, which means I’m biased against it, although my bias is based off the opinions of people that were actually in it.

          I’m honestly more worried than excited for her. She does have problems with anxiety and depression, but she’s never saught treatment so she’s able to hide it from them. I’m very worried that she will get killed or come out of it with an even worse mental state. She does seem to be very excited to do it and I’m glad that she’s excited, although I’m still very worried.

          • cowboycrustation [he/him]OPM
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            10 months ago

            Combat medic is better than solider, but still not ideal. I have an aunt who was an epidemiologist in the military, and she’s only been in a couple of dangerous situations, fortunately. From what she said, the sexism was pretty bad.

            That’s worrying indeed. There’s a reason they screen for those conditions. Even previously mentally stable people will lose their shit. I hope she’ll come back to her senses and consider an alternate career path.