Military heads: Delay transgender enlistment

Request for waiting six months will go to defense secretary.

Military WASHINGTON — chiefs will seek a six-month delay before letting transgender people enlist in their services, officials said Friday.

After meetings this week, the service leaders hammered out an agreement that rejected Army and Air Force requests for a two-year wait and reflected broader concerns that a longer delay would trigger criticism on Capitol Hill, said officials familiar with the talks.

The new request for a delay will go to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis for a final decision, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Transgender service members have been able to serve openly in the military since last year, when former Defense Secretary Ash Carter ended the ban, declaring it the right thing to do. Since Oct. 1, transgender troops have been able to receive medical care and start formally changing their gender identifications in the Pentagon’s personnel system.

But Carter also gave the services until July 1 to develop policies to allow people identifying as transgender to join the military. The military chiefs had said they needed time to study the issue and its effects on the readiness of the force before taking that step.

Officials said Friday that the chiefs believe the extra half-year would give the four military services time to gauge if currently serving transgender troops are facing problems and what changes military bases might have to make.

The chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps discussed the matter with Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work on Thursday, officials said.

Dana White, the Pentagon’s chief spokeswoman, said there have been ongoing discussions with the service chiefs and a recommendation is expected, but she declined to disclose any details.

Stephen Peters, spokesman for Human Rights Campaign, said the group was disappointed with the delay request.

“Each day that passes without implementing the final piece of this important policy harms our military readiness and restricts the Armed Forces’ ability to recruit the best and the brightest,” said Peters, a Marine veteran.

Already, there are as many as 250 service members in the process of transitioning to their preferred genders or who have been approved to formally change gender, according to defense officials.

In recent weeks, Navy officials suggested they would be ready to begin enlistment in July but asked for a oneyear delay, largely to accommodate a request from the Marine Corps for more time, officials said.

The Army and Air Force wanted a two-year delay to further study the issue, the officials said.

Key concerns are whether currently enlisted troops have had medical or other issues that cause delays or problems with their ability to deploy or meet physical or other standards for their jobs.

Military leaders also want to review how transgender troops are treated, if they’re discriminated against or have had disciplinary problems, the officials said.