By Alice Ashton
Today is Veterans’ Day, and it feels different to me than the Veterans’ Days of past years. Not only are we in the middle of a pandemic, but I retired from the Navy this year, and it’s right after the most important election in my lifetime. You see, I am an atheist, and I was a transgender service member who came out after Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter announced that we could serve openly. I continued to serve after the ban was reinstated, and retired this past June.
Whether or not other trans service members would be able to serve directly hinged on Joe Biden winning the Presidency, yet that is only one of many reasons I am happy that he won. We needed a President who understands the rights and freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution and the importance of upholding democratic norms: allowing for peaceful protests without calling them “terrorists,” respecting freedom of the press instead of undermining the truth and intentionally spreading misinformation, and one who knows that LGBTQ+ people deserve equality, as do people of color, women, and all other marginalized groups.
While Biden is a Catholic, that won’t be an issue for me as long as he keeps the separation of church and state. I don’t need an atheist President, just one that acknowledges that atheists like me have the right not to believe. We need a President that knows your religious freedom ends where my rights begin. Much of that has been lost in the last four years, both at the Supreme Court (which will likely continue) and with executive orders. My right to marry whomever I chose should be protected, both legally and with places of business. We tried separate but equal; it didn’t work.
I am proud that our country will no longer have a leader who denigrates prisoners of war or those who die in combat. I am proud that we will no longer have a leader who mocks disabilities. I am proud that trans people will once again be allowed to join the military, and will be treated equally under the law, not turned away from a hospital or place of business because the owner or doctor doesn’t like us. I hope that we can repair some of the international relations that were eroded or destroyed these last four years.
President-elect Joe Biden is far from perfect, and I will be among those calling him out and protesting when the need arises, but now there is a chance our President will listen. That, and I can stop dreading whether my fundamental rights will be denied.
This article is the opinion of Alice Ashton and should not be taken as representing the Navy or any other employer.
About Alice Ashton
Alice Ashton is a humanist recently retired from the United States Navy. She is an aspiring journalist and an intern with the Ask & Tell Project. She left the LDS Church in 1998, but didn’t fully accept her atheism until 2005. She eventually came to accept that she was transgender and came out while serving, being one of only about 1,400 transgender service members to serve openly under the prior regulations. She worked to mentor younger transgender service members on how to navigate the military healthcare and administrative systems, co-founded a local transgender support group, and aided 15 service members in getting their diagnoses before the new ban took effect. She got involved in Atheist Conventions in 2015 and moved into more social justice oriented activism in 2017. She works to bring a better understanding of all marginalized groups to the general public through elevating those marginalized voices and helping share their stories.
