“Inclusive” Recruitment and Continuing Discrimination in the U.S Military

20/07/2023

Ilona Barrero 

Since the inception of the United States’ military, the traditional notion of masculinity has been a key part of the functioning of all its branches. The military, financial and social ecosystem it supports has been perceived by soldiers and the general population as a means to confer masculinity, up to a dangerous and toxic point^[1]Brown, M. T. (2012). Enlisting Masculinity. Oxford University Press.. U.S military training and functioning has relied on violence and the denigration of women and traditionally feminine traits, as well as stigmatising sexual minorities to motivate members and point out “unwanted” traits and behaviour. The U.S government has made efforts in recent years to include more women in the military, and in 2021, President Joe Biden’s administration overturned former President Donald Trump’s 2017 ban on transgender people’s ability to serve in the military^[2]Wamsley, L. (2021, March 31). Pentagon Releases New Policies Enabling Transgender People To Serve In The Military. NPR.org. … Continue reading. However, women and sexual minorities are still not afforded full protection, and sexual harassment remains a significant issue within the U.S armed forces. Furthermore, this article will explore the research question: How can the U.S. military effectively address and prevent the prevalence of sexual harassment and assault towards LGBTQ+ members and women while promoting gender equality and dismantling toxic masculinity within its ranks?

Institutionalised Sexism and Recruitment

Historically, warmongering and the military as a concept have strong connections to traditional masculinity, and these institutions are commonly perceived as institutions that create men out of boys^[3]Brown, M. T. (2012). Enlisting Masculinity. Oxford University Press.. Associate Professor of Social Sciences, Human Services and Criminal Justice Melissa Brown discusses how, for decades, scholars have documented the gendered nature of U.S military training, which is based on violent hazing rituals and the belittling of women and femininity^[4]Brown, M. T. (2012). Enlisting Masculinity. Oxford University Press.. As she states, in theory and in practice, “war making has been the province of men and a source of masculinity”^[5]Brown, M. T. (2012). Enlisting Masculinity. Oxford University Press.. However, it is also important to note that the U.S has made progress in recent years to include women and LGBTQ+ people in their enlistment and recruitment efforts. In 2010, the United States became one of the last developed countries to accept openly gay people in their ranks^[6]Harris, P. (2010, October 19). US military accepts openly gay recruits. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/oct/20/us-military-openly-gay-recruits.

In that year, the country repealed its notorious “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy for conscripts and possible recruits. This policy essentially made discussing sexuality a liability for gay people wishing to join the army, and created and reinforced a culture of homophobia by reiterating that members of the army were better off remaining in the closet rather than being open about their sexual orientation in their workplace^[7]Human Rights Campaign. (n.d.). Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” HRC. https://www.hrc.org/our-work/stories/repeal-of-dont-ask-dont-tell. The “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy faced lots of backlash through the years as gay activist groups claimed it was exclusionary and would not be accepted if it referred to any other political or social group^[8]Harris, P. (2010, October 19). US military accepts openly gay recruits. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/oct/20/us-military-openly-gay-recruits. Even when the policy was gutted, LGBTQ+ civil society groups still warned applicants not to reveal their sexuality to prevent discrimination or bias in their recruitment process.

“Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” was repealed 13 years ago, and since then the U.S military has restructured some of its policies to state that people, regardless of sexual orientation, race, or gender deserve equal protection and opportunity. However, homophobia and transphobia remain important problems that the military must address head on. Some efforts have been met with mixed reactions, such as the controversial 2021 U.S Army animated ad that featured a lesbian wedding^[9]Hall, L. (2021, May 13). US Army launches new animated recruitment video featuring LGBT+ family to diversify intake. The Independent. … Continue reading. While some people praised the Army’s effort to include the LGBTQ+ community in its recruitment strategies, many criticised its effectiveness and designated it as a simple attempt at virtue signalling without providing gay service members real protections from discrimination^[10]Hall, L. (2021, May 13). US Army launches new animated recruitment video featuring LGBT+ family to diversify intake. The Independent. … Continue reading.

On January 24th, 2013, the U.S Defense Secretary at the time announced the ban on women in combat. Nevertheless, in 2016 the armed services were explicitly required to provide equal opportunities regardless of gender and sexual orientation^[11]Yeung, D., Steiner, C., Hardison, C., Hanser, L., & Kamarck, K. (2017). Recruiting Policies and Practices for Women in the Military Views from the Field. … Continue reading. Because of these policies, the U.S military has never had a higher percentage of women in duty. Still, as of 2020, women only represent 16% of members in the force^[12]Robinson, L., & O’Hanlon, M. E. (2020, May). Women Warriors: The ongoing story of integrating and diversifying the American armed forces. Brookings. … Continue reading. The Department of Defense has been clear in its aim to increase the number of women in their ranks, seeing as the armed forces have failed to meet their recruitment target for the past two years^[13]Kurilla, M. (2023, June 16). The President’s Inbox Recap: The U.S. Military Recruiting Crisis. Council on Foreign … Continue reading. In order to increase women in the armed forces, the U.S military has released marketing tools that appeal to women specifically. For example, since the 2013 ruling allowing women to participate in combat, the Marine Corps, infamous for having the toughest physical requirements of all military branches, has been aggressively seeking to recruit high school female athletes. Ads featuring women praise close-combat skills, targeting young women while not acknowledging during the recruitment process the health risks that are disproportionately faced by women in active duty^[14]Pulley, J. (2017, July 25). What military recruiters aren’t telling women: You’ll face disproportionate health risks. Los Angeles Times; Los Angeles Times. … Continue reading. Female veterans in all military branches have a higher likelihood of physical health problems like chronic pelvic pain, polycystic ovary disease, and cervical cancer^[15]Mobile ODT, A FemTech Company. (2019, July 24). Women’s health in the military. MobileODT. … Continue reading. Moreover, these ads exist to incentivize young, physically fit women to dedicate their careers to the military, but there is little awareness or prevention work done to make female recruits aware of the specific health risks they face when serving in active duty.

The Reality for Women and LGBTQ+ People in the U.S Military

As previously stated, women remain a distinct minority in the U.S military, making up only approximately 16% of the armed services. Despite this low figure, nearly ¼ servicewomen report experiencing sexual assault in the military during the time that they serve^[16]Moyer, M. W. (2021, August 3). “A Poison in the System”: The Epidemic of Military Sexual Assault. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/03/magazine/military-sexual-assault.html. Dr. Elizabeth Hillman, former provost of the University of California Hastings College of Law, stated that even though efforts to combat sexual violence in the military exist, this kind of violence in military happens so frequently because it is linked to military law itself^[17]Women’s Congressional Policy Institute. (n.d.). Causes of Military Sexual Assault Focus of House Subcommittee. Women’s Congressional Policy Institute. … Continue reading. She explains that “that military sexual violence has been, and continues to be, so central to military legal precedent that it has both shaped the substance of military law and strengthened through repetition the image of some men as sexually violent predators and women as sexual victims”^[18]Women’s Congressional Policy Institute. (n.d.). Causes of Military Sexual Assault Focus of House Subcommittee. Women’s Congressional Policy Institute. … Continue reading. Furthermore, a large contributor to the culture of harassment is the enlistment structure of the military. In the United States, the military is the primary path out of poverty for many Americans. Enlisting in the military not only provides men with honour and social acceptance, but also provides them with financial security and many benefits, such as aid in college tuition payments and housing. Furthermore, what is less discussed is how soldiers also enlist to escape troubled and violent homes. Studies of Army and Marine recruits found that half of male enlistees had been physically abused in childhood, and ⅙ had been sexually abused in childhood^[19]Women’s Congressional Policy Institute. (n.d.). Causes of Military Sexual Assault Focus of House Subcommittee. Women’s Congressional Policy Institute. … Continue reading. As discussed by professor of journalism at Columbia University Helen Benedict, this is significant because childhood abuse often turns men into abusers, and when they have nowhere else to go but the army, it puts many people, and especially women, in danger of being victims of a cycle of abuse^[20]Women’s Congressional Policy Institute. (n.d.). Causes of Military Sexual Assault Focus of House Subcommittee. Women’s Congressional Policy Institute. … Continue reading.

The accountability mechanism for assaults in the military is a key reason for the impunity in sexual assault cases. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, military commanders decide whether to investigate any criminal reports and pursue legal action, a process which in the civilian world is overseen by ideally impartial law enforcement agencies^[21]Moyer, M. W. (2021, August 3). “A Poison in the System”: The Epidemic of Military Sexual Assault. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/03/magazine/military-sexual-assault.html. This is problematic for many reasons. For one, 59% of women who suffered grave sexual assault offenses, such as rape, were assaulted by someone with a higher rank than them, and 24% were assaulted by someone in their chain of command^[22]P.A, H. & P. (2023, June 29). Facts on Military Sexual Trauma and Statistics. Hill & Ponton, P.A. … Continue reading. Given that most assaults happen in an abusive power dynamic, women in these situations do not have safe reporting mechanisms since superiors investigate these assaults. Furthermore, a large percentage of (reported) penetrative sexual assault crimes happen within the victim’s chain of command, women therefore face conflicts of interest, social stigma, and impunity when reporting these crimes^[23]P.A, H. & P. (2023, June 29). Facts on Military Sexual Trauma and Statistics. Hill & Ponton, P.A. … Continue reading. The current denouncing mechanism for sexual assault in the U.S military is abhorrent, especially when taking into account that this kind of harassment from superior ranking members to lower ranking women is an endemic problem.

For people in the LGBTQ+ community, the political and cultural atmosphere at different U.S military branches is also in need of improvement. Recently, the rising number of state laws that negatively target the LGBTQ+ community have had an impact on LGBTQ+ troops. A top Air Force official said that LGBTQ+ troops or troops with LGBTQ+ family members have been forced to move to new bases because their children are being harassed at school by peers or facing other kinds of sexual orientation-based discrimination, noting the negative impact on the force^[24]P.A, H. & P. (2023, June 29). Facts on Military Sexual Trauma and Statistics. Hill & Ponton, P.A. … Continue reading. Bigotry is affecting gay and trans troops, forcing them to relocate themselves and their entire families, which directly affects their personal and professional development^[25]Seligman, L. (2023, June 7). Military’s LGBTQ community is “under attack,” top officials say. POLITICO. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06/07/military-lgbtq-community-attack-00100775.

On top of that, rates of harassment and sexual assault against sexual & gender minorties are abysmal as well. A research report published by the Research And Development Corporation (RAND) in 2021 found that nearly half of all sexual assaults target service members who do not identify as heterosexual^[26]Morral, A. R., & Schell, T. L. (2021). Sexual Assault of Sexual Minorities in the U.S. Military. In RAND Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA1390-1.html. The rates for sexual assault against gay women is higher than the one for heterosexual women: 9% and 4.8%, respectively^[27]Morral, A. R., & Schell, T. L. (2021). Sexual Assault of Sexual Minorities in the U.S. Military. In RAND Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA1390-1.html. Additionally, a study funded by the Department of Defense in 2020 found that the cultural remnants of the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy placed high value on stereotypically “masculine” traits such as dominance and aggression, which could lead individuals to act out toward people they see as weak (such as people openly identifying as LGBTQ+) to prove their masculinity^[28]Rosbach, M. (2020, April 21). LGBTQ military service members at higher risk of sexual harassment, assault, stalking. Oregon State University Newsoom. … Continue reading. It is evident that although the current administration overturned former President Trump’s ban on trans service members, LGBTQ+ members of the armed forces still face stigma and dangerous situations because of their gender identity and/or sexual orientation.

CBS News also published an article in June 2023 that shines a light on the decades of discrimination by the U.S military against gay and lesbian service members^[29]Kegu, J. (2023, June 21). New figures reveal scope of military discrimination against LGBTQ troops, with over 29,000 denied honorable discharges – CBS News. Www.cbsnews.com. … Continue reading. The study they refer to finds that 35,801 individuals received a discharge from the military because of “real or perceived homosexuality, homosexual conduct, sexual perversion, or any other related reason” between October 1st 1980, to September 20, 2011^[30]Kegu, J. (2023, June 21). New figures reveal scope of military discrimination against LGBTQ troops, with over 29,000 denied honorable discharges – CBS News. Www.cbsnews.com. … Continue reading. Of all those cases, 81% were denied honourable discharge, being let go in the form of general discharge and even dishonourable discharge^[31]Kegu, J. (2023, June 21). New figures reveal scope of military discrimination against LGBTQ troops, with over 29,000 denied honorable discharges – CBS News. Www.cbsnews.com. … Continue reading. The same study revealed that the U.S military has made no explicit or affirmative effort to revisit cases where gay and lesbian service members were convicted of crimes or burdened with felony records for being involved in same-sex relationships^[32]Kegu, J. (2023, June 21). New figures reveal scope of military discrimination against LGBTQ troops, with over 29,000 denied honorable discharges – CBS News. Www.cbsnews.com. … Continue reading. This groundbreaking discovery puts a face to the reality of institutionalised homophobia that goes beyond marginalisation and harassment. Same-sex couples were burdened with felony charges, which can make it nearly impossible to access benefits and get employment. Likewise, dishonourable discharges leave a permanent stain on former service members’ records with the army and the government, without even mentioning the social stigma associated with both felonies and dishonourable discharges. This report was published extremely recently, and only discussed cases of homophobia from 1980-2011, meaning that the likelihood is extremely high that there are hundreds of other cases like these. With reports like this and former veterans coming forward about their experiences with homophobia with more and more frequency, it calls attention to the U.S military about its shortcomings and wrongdoings, giving its individual branches a chance to publicly and privately rectify acts of intolerance.

Protecting Sexual and Gender Minorities in the U.S Military

Every year since 2013, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand from New York has introduced a bill in the U.S Senate to have major crimes, such as sexual harassment, routed to independent prosecutors and not to the hands of commanders^[33]Moyer, M. W. (2021, August 3). “A Poison in the System”: The Epidemic of Military Sexual Assault. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/03/magazine/military-sexual-assault.html. The bill has failed every year it has been introduced. However, with the 2020 murder of soldier Vanessa Guillén, who had reported being sexually harassed on at least two occasions, and who received no help from her superiors or the Army, the bill has garnered more support than ever^[34]Riess, R. (2022, August 13). Family of Vanessa Guillén, Fort Hood soldier found dead, seeks $35 million in damages. CNN. … Continue reading. The way the military approaches sexual assault cases specifically needs to be completely overhauled, as Senator Gillibrand’s bill proposes. Furthermore, it is imperative to deal with the larger culture that is permissive of sexual assault, in order to prevent these aggressions before they even happen^[35]Time’s Up. (2021, May 20). Sexual Harassment & Assault in the Military. TIME’S up Foundation. https://timesupfoundation.org/sexual-harassment-assault-in-the-military/. Sexual harassment should be adressed as symptomatic of a military culture that treats women and LGBTQ+ people as second class citizens. It is also important to strengthen the protection given to victims of harassment and assault, including the right to independent investigations, standardised procedures, and protection against retaliation^[36]Sagawa, S., & Campbell, N. (1992). Women in the Military Issue Paper Sexual Harassment of Women in the Military. https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Military%20Harassment.pdf. Military bases should provide counseling, mental health and medical services and ensure that social and medical workers on bases are properly trained to respond to rape and sexual assault cases^[37]Sagawa, S., & Campbell, N. (1992). Women in the Military Issue Paper Sexual Harassment of Women in the Military. https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Military%20Harassment.pdf.

Moreover, working to protect LGBTQ+ troops or veterans means undoing decades of discriminatory environments. Much of the policies have been undone in recent years, including the Biden administration, but that does not mean that a culture of homophobia and transphobia does not remain. Cases of gay and lesbian veterans who were denied honourable discharges should be revisited and reversed if they were discriminated against solely because of their same-sex relationship or sexuality. Military bases should also conduct regular education and training programs to promote LGBTQ+ acceptance and awareness, understanding, and inclusion, in order to dispel stereotypes and promote respectful communication and behaviour. Finally, given that the issue of sexual orientation is increasingly contested issue in the United States, U.S military bases must continue to provide protection for their LGBTQ+ members in the form of supportive leadership and support networks.

To quote this article: Ilona Barrero (2023). “Inclusive” Recruitment and Continuing Discrimination in the U.S Military. Gender in Geopolitics Institute. https://igg-geo.org/?p=14312&lang=en

The statements in this article are the sole responsibility of the author.