WASHINGTON — In a historic move, the Pentagon on Thursday lifted its ban on allowing transgender personnel to serve openly in the military.
The announcement at the Pentagon by Defense Secretary Ash Carter follows extensive study by the U.S. military to remove one of the last discriminatory hurdles for military service, treating gender identity on par with race, religion, color, sex or sexual orientation.
“Our mission is to defend this country, and we don’t want barriers unrelated to a person’s qualification to serve preventing us from recruiting or retaining the soldier, sailor, airman or Marine who can best accomplish the mission,” Carter said. “We have to have access to 100 percent of America’s population for our all-volunteer force to be able to recruit from among them the most highly qualified — and to retain them.”
The new policy will be phased in over a one-year period and, effective immediately, servicemembers may no longer be involuntarily separated, discharged or denied reenlistment solely on the basis of gender identity, according to a Department of Defense news release. Servicemembers currently on duty will be able to serve openly.
At one year, the services will begin allowing transgender individuals to join the armed forces, assuming they meet accession standards. Gender identity will also not be considered a bar to admission to a military service academy, for participation in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps or any other accession program, if the individual meets the new criteria.
The new policy also establishes a construct to let servicemembers transition gender while serving and sets standards for medical care.
The move came nearly five years after the formal end of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” a 17-year-old policy that barred gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military.
The Pentagon does not have a precise count of how many transgender men and women are in the services now, because they face discharge if they reveal their identities.
The Palm Center, a research institute based in San Francisco, estimates that there are about 15,500transgender members of the U.S. military, “making the Department of Defense the largest employer oftransgender people in America.”
Despite the policy change, there are many senior military leaders who believe the Pentagon is moving too fast and has not yet resolved issues related to the plan. In recent weeks, Carter has met with military chiefs to hear concerns and suggestions to ease the process.
But officials said the full policy must be completely implemented no later than July 1, 2017.
Compiled from reports by Stars and Stripes and Tribune News Service.
[email protected]
The announcement at the Pentagon by Defense Secretary Ash Carter follows extensive study by the U.S. military to remove one of the last discriminatory hurdles for military service, treating gender identity on par with race, religion, color, sex or sexual orientation.
“Our mission is to defend this country, and we don’t want barriers unrelated to a person’s qualification to serve preventing us from recruiting or retaining the soldier, sailor, airman or Marine who can best accomplish the mission,” Carter said. “We have to have access to 100 percent of America’s population for our all-volunteer force to be able to recruit from among them the most highly qualified — and to retain them.”
The new policy will be phased in over a one-year period and, effective immediately, servicemembers may no longer be involuntarily separated, discharged or denied reenlistment solely on the basis of gender identity, according to a Department of Defense news release. Servicemembers currently on duty will be able to serve openly.
At one year, the services will begin allowing transgender individuals to join the armed forces, assuming they meet accession standards. Gender identity will also not be considered a bar to admission to a military service academy, for participation in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps or any other accession program, if the individual meets the new criteria.
The new policy also establishes a construct to let servicemembers transition gender while serving and sets standards for medical care.
The move came nearly five years after the formal end of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” a 17-year-old policy that barred gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military.
The Pentagon does not have a precise count of how many transgender men and women are in the services now, because they face discharge if they reveal their identities.
The Palm Center, a research institute based in San Francisco, estimates that there are about 15,500transgender members of the U.S. military, “making the Department of Defense the largest employer oftransgender people in America.”
Despite the policy change, there are many senior military leaders who believe the Pentagon is moving too fast and has not yet resolved issues related to the plan. In recent weeks, Carter has met with military chiefs to hear concerns and suggestions to ease the process.
But officials said the full policy must be completely implemented no later than July 1, 2017.
Compiled from reports by Stars and Stripes and Tribune News Service.
[email protected]
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