The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
» How the U.S. military’s transgender policy has evolved,
President Donald Trump’s announcement on Twitter on Wednesday morning that transgender people would be barred from the U.S. military “in any capacity” marked a sudden reversal of a policy that had evolved rapidly under the Obama White House.
Here is a look at events leading to the lifting of the transgender ban in June 2016, and what has happened since.
May 2014 A review of the prohibition
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the military should “continually” review its prohibition on transgender people in the armed forces.
“Every qualified American who wants to serve our country should have an opportunity if they fit the qualifications and can do it,” Hagel said in an interview.
At the time, Defense Department guidelines written decades earlier described transgender people as sexual deviants. President Barack Obama, who in 2011 had repealed the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that banned openly gay men, lesbians and bisexuals from serving in the military, had refrained from commenting on transgender people in the armed forces, even as he had been pressured on the issue by activists for LGBT rights.
July 2015 Moving to end an ‘outdated’ approach
Hagel’s successor as defense secretary, Ash Carter, announced the Pentagon would move to allow transgender people to serve openly, making good on Hagel’s promise of continual review.
In announcing the plan, Carter acknowledged the many transgender people who were already serving in the military.
“We have transgender soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines — real, patriotic Americans — who I know are being hurt by an outdated, confusing, inconsistent approach that’s contrary to our value of service and individual merit,” he said.
In previous months, lawmakers had begun to openly champion the cause of transgender service members.
October 2015 The vice president weighs in
Vice President Joe Biden, speaking to the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group, argued that transgender people should be allowed to serve in the armed forces.
The vice president, who was still contemplating a presidential run at the time, called transgender rights “the civil rights issue of our time.”
May 2016 Low cost and ‘no significant impact’ on readiness
A study commissioned by Carter and carried out by the RAND Corp. found that allowing transgender people to serve openly would “cost little and have no significant impact on unit readiness.”
The study estimated that 2,450 active-duty members were transgender and predicted that around 65 would seek to transition each year. It estimated that the cost to the Pentagon of those procedures as between $2.9 million to $4.2 million a year.
The study predicted service members would not seek to transition were the procedures not covered by the Pentagon, and that they would likely have higher rates of substance abuse and suicide as a result.
June 2016 A barrier removed
“Effective immediately, transgender Americans may serve openly,” Carter announced, on June 30, 2016. “They can no longer be discharged or otherwise separated from the military just for being transgender.”
He said the Pentagon would cover the medical costs of those in uniform who wished to undergo gender transition, and that it would begin a yearlong training program for service members on the changes.
November 2016 Worries about a new administration
Trump’s victory in November was greeted with alarm by many in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, who feared reversals of political advances.
“All across America right now there are millions of people who are terrified,” said Mara Keisling, the executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality.
Trump had sometimes seemed to court their support in his race against Hillary Clinton, tweeting during the campaign, “Thank you to the LGBT community! I will fight for you while Hillary brings in more people that will threaten your freedoms and beliefs.”
May 2017 Transgender cadets denied commissions
Two transgender cadets — one at West Point, the other at the Air Force Academy — were denied their commissions because of a loophole in the Pentagon’s transgender policy, which officials said only covered activeduty service members.
The policy, which had been released in October, was written by Brad Carson, an undersecretary of defense under Obama.
But Carson said that he had envisioned academy personnel as being covered by the same rules as active-duty service members because “they’re already in the military.”
June 2017 A delay in transgender recruits
A year after Carter lifted the Pentagon’s ban, Trump’s defense secretary, Jim Mattis, delayed a plan to allow transgender recruits to join the military.
According to a Pentagon spokeswoman, the delay would allow service leaders to “review their accession plans and provide input” as they consider the impact of transgender recruits on “the readiness and lethality of our forces.”
Congressional Republicans were also attempting to roll back the Obama policy. In early July, the House narrowly rejected a bill that would have stopped the Pentagon from paying for gender transition and hormone therapy.
July 2017 A Reversal from Trump
On Wednesday, Trump reversed what had been ushered in by the Obama administration, saying on Twitter he made the decision based on advice from generals and military experts. He did not specify whom he had consulted.