The US Army faced backlash from Twitter users over the weekend after publishing a feature profile about Major “Rachel” Jones, a transgender Army officer who claimed that coming out and embracing her true identity as a transgender woman saved her life.
Major Jones, who is described as somewhat overweight and balding, currently serves as the chief of the Army’s Sustainment Command Cyber Division.
She shared her personal struggles, including depression and thoughts of suicide, which plagued her throughout her life.
However, since living as a woman, Jones asserted that her depression has lifted, and she no longer experiences suicidal thoughts.
“When I was growing up in the 80s and 90s there was a lot of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric. I don’t think many people meant to do that, but it’s something I heard as I was growing up repeatedly. So much so that I was convinced I was inherently evil for being transgender,” Jones said.
“The pressure of hiding all of the time was so bad I grew up depressed and suicidal to the point that I always had a plan to end my life,” Jones added.
Despite privately coming out as transgender in 2019, Jones was unable to openly embrace her true self while serving in the Army due to the military’s ban on transgender individuals.
However, during a six-month assignment away from home, she decided it was time for a change. Seeking professional help, Jones scheduled therapy sessions to navigate her feelings and achieve self-acceptance.
Through therapy, Jones managed to disentangle her feelings about being transgender from the negative emotions that had plagued her. Over time, she learned to accept and love herself.
While Jones publicly came out as transgender to her comrades following the Biden administration’s lifting of the transgender ban, the Defense Department made the controversial decision to post a link to the Army’s profile of Jones on its official Twitter account.
The response to the tweet was not as supportive as expected, with numerous Twitter users expressing their discontent.
“Shouldn’t that disqualify somebody from owning firearms? Your telling me that this person is in charge of them? Looks like our priority is not on helping those with Mental Illness, instead we are enabling it. Be better!!” Influencer Bryan Tyson, said in a statement.
“This is a DISGRACE… HE isn’t fit to serve… Your own policies stopped my step-son from joining the Navy after he graduated top of his class out of SUNY Maritime… Why you ask? Because my step son was born a premie, and has to take ONE thyroid pill a day… It was DETERMINED by DOD that that one pill posed a threat to operational readiness. Now you want to push some guy posing as a female who has to take 10’s of pills a day as being operationally ready?” another netizen lamented.
