Against Trans Inclusion in the Military: A Trans Of Color Abolitionist Critique

Abstract

Abstract: Over the last few years, trans inclusion in the military has become the focal point for much of trans activism in the US. Advocates seeking inclusion highlight how participation in the military is often a means of socioeconomic mobility and access to trans-friendly healthcare. Such advocacy hinges upon notions of “good citizenship,” which buttresses US exceptionalism, and concretizes the US empire vis-à-vis militarism. In this paper, we examine a popular documentary, TransMilitary (2018), released in the context of the US–led War on Terror. This documentary serves as a cultural artifact that showcases the deployment of trans service members to Iraq and Afghanistan as a form of inclusion advocacy. Against the backdrop of US imperialism in Asia and Oceania, we extend Asian/American and Pacific Islander feminist analytics to bring into conversation a trans of color abolitionist praxis that centers demilitarization and abolition of the military. In conclusion, we formulate Asian and Pacific Islander trans feminist abolitionist critiques of US trans militarism. A trans abolitionist framework unsettles ideas of liberal inclusion and, instead, centers abolishment of the military for collective trans liberation.