Enabling Transgender People To Serve In The Military
NPR By: Laurel Wamsley
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| Pentagon spokesman John Kirby |
The new regulations provide "access to the military in one's self-identified gender provided all appropriate standards are met," the Defense Department said in a statement, and "provide a path for those in service for medical treatment, gender transition, and recognition in one's self-identified gender."
The new policies go into effect April 30.
Among the provisions:
- The military will now provide service members a process by which they may transition gender while serving.
- A service member may not be involuntarily discharged or denied reenlistment solely on the basis of gender identity.
- Procedures will be developed for changing a service member's gender marker.
- The Defense Health Agency will develop clinical practice guidelines to support the medical treatment of service members diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
"These policies are based on the conclusion that open service by transgender persons who are subject to the same high standards and procedures as other Service members with regard to medical fitness for duty, physical fitness, uniform and grooming standards, deployability, and retention is consistent with military service and readiness," the Department of Defense instructions state.
The announcement coincides with International Transgender Day of Visibility.
The policies announced Wednesday largely return to those created in 2016, though they were never fully enacted.
I like what you wrote in the profile section very much. Being transgender is very confusing and, even more, differs from person to person. You and I are roughly the same age so we grew up in similar times. My early understanding of gender (which later evolved) was that people are one or the other; I didn't then grasp the notion of non-binary. Also, I made the mistake of believing our culture when it says to be female one must be feminine. Obviously there are women who aren't but I internalized this to believe that to be authentically female, I'd have to present in a hyper-feminine manner -- something physically impossible for me. That weakened my resolve about my own gender, even as I knew my inner self. Fortunately we're all gaining deeper understanding of this complex subject, as shown by your post. While sadly there's backlash as some (mostly Republicans) seem to want to make "transgender children" a political football (like they did in the past with "gay marriage"), most smart people are seeing us more clearly and with more compassion.
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