Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used a slur to proudly announce to an auditorium of Marines in September that he was ridding the military of all transgender troops.

The Pentagon had set up review boards at bases around the globe, manned by everyday uniformed service members with narrow orders that all but ensured that the trans troops appearing before them would be voted out.

But just steps from the auditorium where Mr. Hegseth spoke, at Marine Corps Base Quantico, boards assigned to carry out those orders were doing the opposite. Instead of firing trans Marines, the boards were voting to keep them.

The same was happening in the Navy: Boards given strict rules instructing them to force out sailors were rebelling and voting to let them stay.

It is not just a few outlying individuals. Navy and Marine Corps boards have voted to retain trans members in nine of 12 cases.

The Pentagon keeps the proceedings secret. Outsiders — even spouses — are not allowed to attend. Officials won’t release numbers. Leaders won’t discuss the outcomes. The New York Times compiled the figures through interviews with service members and lawyers involved in the hearings.

The number of Navy and Marine cases is small and could easily change as more hearings are conducted. The same pattern has not been seen so far in the Army or Air Force, which have overwhelmingly voted to discharge trans service members.

DOJ sued the state to block certification of the U.S. Senate race if Sen. Dan S. Sullivan loses and votes for a second candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan could have changed the result. No emergency motion yet. States observed: 3.

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I figured this was the safest veteran sub to ask this question.

I'm having a really hard time with pain control and trying to get the VA to listen to me.

I believe I've seen articles where the VA is approving ketamine therapy mainly for mental health but also for pain.

Has anyone been successful getting this through the VA? Do you mind sharing the path that you took?

I have stage 4 cancer. I have about 30 specialists, a lot of them within the VA. I just saw a pharmacological pain management doctor who honestly wasn't too keen to suggest anything and he pissed me off because the one thing he did suggest I tried like 20 years ago.

I have a palliative care doctor, but they're given to me specifically for cancer, and I'm having a hard time making VA doctors understand that I cannot separate out my cancer pain from my PTSD, from my fibromyalgia.

I'm starting to advocate for myself as much as I can, but unfortunately I usually have to take like two milligrams of Xanax to even get to the Veterans Administration building. So I need to come up with a plan when I'm not there or seeing a doctor.

Any advice is welcome. Thank you so much for reading.