CULTURE

#VeTRANsDay2019 Trends on Twitter in Support of Transgender Veterans

The best way to celebrate Veteran's Day 2019 is speaking truth to power. #VeTRANsDay2019

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With Trump's transgender military ban having gone into effect this past April, Veteran's Day 2019 serves as a bitter reminder of discrimination against the US's 134,000+ transgender vets.

Trump's ongoing crusade against fully capable service members, based solely on hatred of their identities, is an affront to human rights and a kick in the face to the personal freedoms that define Americans as Americans.

transgender military

Now, in a beautiful act of acceptance for transgender veterans, Twitter users have started tweeting under the hashtag #VetransDay2019. And while the misspelling (it's actually "Veteran's Day") might appear so subtle that an average Twitter user could scroll past it with nary a thought, considering the sociopolitical circumstances, there's no doubt that #VetransDay2019 is a conscious act of protest against hateful right-wing discrimination.

Everyone from elementary school classes to football teams has voiced their support for transgender veterans. It's truly inspiring to see how accepting and open-minded the younger generations have become.

One Twitter user even posted a suggestion that transgender veterans should get Veteran's Day off from work––a great idea if we've ever heard one!

But perhaps most amazingly, some Trump supporters are even reaching across the aisle to speak out in opposition to their beloved leader by showing their unyielding support for transgender peoples' rights. This Twitter user might not like the left, but that doesn't stop him from standing up for the transgender veterans who have bravely served America.

There are very rarely wholly positive news stories these days, but #VeTRANsDay2019 seems to have pierced through the turmoil, bringing Americans together in the name of supporting and advocating for some of our bravest citizens during a time when they need it most.

Of course, we must acknowledge the possibility that some boomer, in a blind frenzy of alcohol-fuelled patriotism, just misspelled "Veteran" as "Vetran," and then a bunch of other dumb boomers retweeted it. If that were the case, #VetransDay2019 would not be an act of protest, so much as it would be further proof that boomers need to get off social media. But we're choosing to believe the former.

Happy VeTRANs Day 2019!

FILM

Best War Movies to Watch on Memorial Day

Celebrate Memorial Day with the power of cinema.

Memorial Day is a somber holiday dedicated to honoring the fallen members of our armed forces.

While movies are often a great medium for escapist entertainment, they can also serve to help us explore unfamiliar perspectives and experiences. So if you're looking for a good way to contemplate the trials and tribulations of war on your day off, look no further than these cinematic tales of war:

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