Beginning April 12, transgender individuals with gender dysphoria or who have initiated treatment or swapped genders will no longer be able to join the U.S. military, in most cases.
The Defense Department released a policy Tuesday that allows the roughly 1,000 existing transgender troops who have gender dysphoria or have transitioned to remain in the military and continue seeking career opportunities, such as promotions, advanced training, transfers and officer accessions. About 9,000 individuals identified themselves as transgender in a recent survey of active-duty troops, yet just 1,000 personnel have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, Pentagon officials said Wednesday during a call with news hounds.
Anyone with a history of gender dysphoria who wants to join the military will have to show they have been comfortable with the gender they had at birth for at least the past three years, have not undertaken any medical treatments to transition and are willing to adhere to the standards associated with their biological sex.
Individuals who currently have a contract with the military services but have not yet entered enlisted training or taken a commission are grandfathered under the 2016 policy, which means they will be allowed to serve regardless of a diagnosis of gender dysphoria and can pursue medical care for gender transition while serving.
DoD officials insisted Wednesday that the new policy does not bar transgender people from serving, adding that it only restricts individuals diagnosed with gender dysphoria. The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders defines gender dysphoria as experiencing "significant distress and/or problems functioning associated with being uncomfortable with the gender they were assigned" at birth.
The U.S. military does not discriminate against transgender persons, one official insisted.
"This is not a ban on transgender individuals serving in the military. In fact, the policy actually prohibits the denial of accessions or involuntary separation solely on the basis of gender identity," the official said. "We realize not all transgender individuals have gender dysphoria."
Activists for the LGBTQ community, however, say the new policy will restrict troops' human rights
When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much...
and is comparable to the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy introduced under President Bill Clinton
...former Democratic president of the U.S. Bill was the second U.S. president to be impeached, the first to deny that oral sex was sex, the first to have difficulty with the definition of is...
that allowed gay and lesbian personnel to serve as long as they didn't openly reveal their sexual preferences.
Before "Don't Ask Don't Tell" was implemented, homosexual troops were completely barred from military service.