I was part of the first cohort of folks to transition in the military after the Carter policy in 2016. Now my career is being cut short This is far from the greatest injustice in the US today, but I'm still angry I want to talk a bit about what that's been like, if only to help me process it 🧵 - ThreadSky

itsviviactually.bsky.social • 6 days ago

I was part of the first cohort of folks to transition in the military after the Carter policy in 2016. Now my career is being cut short

This is far from the greatest injustice in the US today, but I'm still angry

I want to talk a bit about what that's been like, if only to help me process it

🧵

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antitheticalwife.bsky.social•6 days ago

Thank you for sharing your story and thank you for your service. I know there’s civil service jobs that will grant your years in service towards a pension and offer other benefits you’ve been receiving (TSP, insurance etc).

I hope everything works out for you and your family!

tiptransformed.bsky.social•6 days ago

I am sorry and furious for you, Vivian. 💚

itsviviactually.bsky.social•6 days ago

I want to emphasize, this is the experience of one (1) transsexual with a fairly unusual career in the Navy, and not intended to be representative of anyone else

If you think the point of this is to say "The Navy is great and you should join!" you have vastly misunderstood my intentions

itsviviactually.bsky.social•6 days ago

Not many people know this, but I actually had a break in service. I enlisted the first time right out of high school in 1999, because I had no idea how I was paying for college and a recruiter told me about this great thing called the "Montgomery G.I. Bill"

itsviviactually.bsky.social•6 days ago

(My father was intensely opposed to debt as a concept, so I had no idea what a student loan was until about 2008 or so)

itsviviactually.bsky.social•6 days ago

You've probably heard of the ASVAB. It's a standardized test the military uses to determine what job, if any, they're going to offer you when you join up

The actual offer depends on what's available that month and what your service expects to need

itsviviactually.bsky.social•6 days ago

I scored high enough that they wanted me to be a nuclear tech

The Navy desperately needs nukes because the school is very difficult and also it burns through them like cheap firewood

Seriously, they actually get good bonuses but they all hate their lives

itsviviactually.bsky.social•6 days ago

I did not want to be a nuke, because the school sounded like actual work and I had spent my entire high school experience avoiding that

Still, I let them talk me into taking the nuclear tech eligibility test (or whatever they called it) at my first MEPS visit

sefleenor.bsky.social•6 days ago

Glad to know you and hate all the bullshit you've faced. 💚💚💚

tcparker.bsky.social•5 days ago

I'm so sorry you went through this. But thanks so much for sharing your story - I was equal parts enraged and engrossed by the telling

What's being done to you now is utterly obscene xx

raewilde.bsky.social•6 days ago

Vivian, I am so sorry. I can only imagine how this must feel 🫂

itsviviactually.bsky.social•6 days ago

Thank you 💖🖤 I'm trying to see it as the start of a new chapter in my life, but I still have a lot of Big Feelings

raewilde.bsky.social•6 days ago

Of course, how could you not? 🫂

glynnstewart.com•6 days ago

Thanks for sharing, Vivian. It's eye-opening and frustrating to see just how much idiocy has been wrapped around what seems like a pretty straightforward concept ("let people be themselves, it's a great way to get fanatic loyalists")

I'm sorry you're going through this.

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