Progress has been made in transgender rights, as the Pentagon allows transgendered men and women to openly serve in the military. The historic decision was made on June 30, 2016.

While many decisions have been made in order for members of the LGBTQ community to legally have the same rights as their heterosexual/cis counterparts, this is a big win for the trans community.

For the past six years, the United States government has made important decisions to help secure the rights of the LGBTQ community. One of the first steps in helping the LGBTQ community move forward was the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ in 2010, which allowed gays and lesbians to outwardly serve in the military since the law was made in 1993. Three years after the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’, the United States Supreme Court found that the ‘Defense of Marriage Act’ (DOMA) was unconstitutional. The repeal granted same-sex couples the right to federal protection, like marital benefits under the law.

United States Defense Secretary, Ash Carter, has been studying transgender inclusiveness and was the one who broke the news. Carter said the main reason to allow the inclusion of transgenders in the armed forces was, because the armed forces “don’t want barriers unrelated to a person’s qualifications to serve preventing us from recruiting or retaining the soldier, sailor, airman or marine who can best accomplish the mission.”

While many believe that the vote to allow trans men and women to serve is a vote in the right direction, however, there are some members of Congress who think that with the Pentagon allowing transgender to serve is more of a popularity vote, rather than doing what’s best for trans men and women, as well as cis men and women.

Serving in the armed forces is a heroic event in and of itself. We have men and women who put their lives on the line day after day in order to help create a better country for future generations. Who are we to deny someone the right to service, just because they were born in the wrong body? To me, that doesn’t sound like an America I want to be a part of. The America I know was born on Christian values: to love and honor one another, treat everyone with respect, and to accept each other’s differences. Even though as a nation we have strayed away from those core values, I am proud that we are going back to those values with allowing trans to serve.

For the transgendered men and women who are going to serve, I can’t think of a better feeling than serving your country and knowing the country you are willing to die for, supports who you are as a person. There have been too many suicides by transgendered veterans because they aren’t accepted by their own country, or by their fellow service men and women. I don’t think this ruling will make everything 100 percent better, but I do believe it is a step in the right direction in order to show younger generations that they don’t have to be scared to be who they are, and that their government will accept, and make laws to protect them.