A scandal involving nude photos of female Marines surfaced in early March, when it was reported that a Facebook group of Marines was sharing nude photos of female service members.

It was reported days later that the scandal involved other branches and more than one Facebook group, Military.com reported in a March 10 story.

At the same time the armed services is reeling from the photo-sharing scandal, says Elaine Donnelly of the Center for Military Readiness, the Pentagon has told military branches to welcome open transgenders.

Donnelly

“If privacy is important to women, and I certainly believe it is,” says Donnelly, “how can you say then that privacy doesn’t matter when you have transgender individuals claiming that they should be treated like the opposite sex even though that’s scientifically impossible?”

The dilemma for the U.S. armed forces, she continues, is to demand “professional behavior” from military personnel but drop the ban on transgenders for the sake of “diversity.”

The Pentagon dropped the ban on open transgenders last year after dropping the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy for homosexuals in 2011 over protests that the military was ignoring the danger of sexual assaults.

It was reported in 2014, in a disturbing GQ magazine story, that male-on-male sexual assaults were common in the military but went unreported due to pressure to keep quiet.

An investigation a year later by the Government Accountability Office confirmed such incidents were occurring in all branches of the military, The Washington Post reported.

After the photo-sharing scandal went public, the Marine Corps issued a statement that Marines should “think twice” before engaging in “questionable behavior” online.

Marine Commandant General Robert Neller has said Marines participating in such behavior are not “helping me or your Marine Corps.”