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Research Note: Cadet and Civilian Undergraduate Attitudes toward Transgender People

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Armed Forces & Society

Published online on

Abstract

We explore American military academy, Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), and civilian undergraduate attitudes toward transgender people in general, in the workplace, and in the military. Earlier this decade, the US military experienced both the repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy and the exclusion of women from combat, yet transgender people are prohibited from serving openly in the military. The research presented in this study explores tolerance toward perceive gender nonconformity by military affiliation, race/ethnicity, sex, religious affiliation, and political leaning. Most members our sample, regardless of military affiliation, do not believe that having a transgender person in the workplace would impact their job. However, being a military academy cadet, but not an ROTC cadet, significantly predicts support for barring transgender people from military service but general attitudes toward transgender people utilizing a thermometer scale are generally explained by the background characteristics associated with being an academy cadet.