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Does She Look Like a Sir to You?

“I was called in,” said U.S. Army Capt. Jennifer Peace, “and my direct supervisor said, ‘Hey, Capt. Peace. I need you to start correcting people’s pronouns.” Peace, who is stationed at a base near Tacoma, Wash., is a trans-woman, but according to Army records, she’s a man: the Army’s regulations, a spokesman said, regard soldiers as being the gender they were when they joined the Army. So despite her haircut (below her ears) and makeup, despite her name change, and even despite her surgeries and the shape of her chest, her soldiers have been reprimanded for calling her “ma’am.” The Army insists she’s a “sir.” The Defense Department has formed a working group that may eventually change this. (AC/Public Radio International) ...In the Army, gender isn’t in your mind or between your legs. It’s in the regulations.