An 18-year-old female military recruit was forced to shower with, and sleep in between, transgender biological males under the Biden administration's policies, placing her in an "extremely uncomfortable position," Fox News reports.
The incident was highlighted on Tuesday during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, after which Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) told the outlet that the woman is afraid to speak out out of concern for her career, and that her options were to basically keep quiet about it, or resign from her early-career position.
"She could have basically resigned or stepped away," said Rounds, adding "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."
According to Rounds, the military recruit, 18, is complaining about being forced to sleep in between "two individuals who were supposedly changing from male to female." The girl also has to shower with the individuals and reported significant distress about the matter. The individuals housed with the 18-year-old had initiated chemical interventions to change genders, but without having reassignment surgery, their genitalia were fully intact. -Fox News
Rounds heard about the incident from the Attorney General for the South Dakota National Guard.
"He had contacted our office very concerned about the information he had received from the recruit," said Rounds. "The respect that this young recruit should have received and the privacy that she should have had, she was being deprived of."
"This seems to be a direct correlation between when the President of the United States issued the executive order making these changes and directing the Department of Defense to integrate… individuals who were transgender and how they should be perceived within the military," Rounds continued, adding "Most of the focus [under the Biden administration] is on the transgender individuals, not on the individuals who are working with them."
.@PhilipWegmann: The WH "has been critical of Sen. Tuberville w/his holds on military promotions...[W]hy is the new DoD policy on abortion critical to military readiness?"
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) July 17, 2023
Kirby says female and "transgender individuals" "have every right" to be "take[n] care of" pic.twitter.com/TrwNGYmJyS
In a statement to Fox News Digital, the Pentagon 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 Biden reversed the Trump-era ban on transgender people serving in the military when he first took office. The Biden administration, at the time, stressed that the U.S. military "thrives" when it is composed of diverse Americans who can "meet the rigorous standards for military service," and added that "an inclusive military strengthens our national security."
"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. "This question of how to enable all qualified Americans to serve in the military is easily answered by recognizing our core values." -Fox News
According to the Daily Caller, the DoD requires transgender service members to use whichever bathroom or shower facilities align with their preferred gender, regardless of biological sex.
