New military limits on transgender troops
Pentagon could require them to serve according to their gender at birth
Transgender troops who are in the US military may remain in the ranks, the White House said late Friday, but the Pentagon could require them to serve according to their gender at birth.
The policy directive that President Donald Trump signed flatly stated that “transgender persons who require or have undergone gender transition are disqualified from military service.” But it also largely gives the Pentagon the ability to make exceptions where it sees fit.
The policy adopts recommendations that Trump received last month from Defence Secretary Jim Mattis. It comes after court rulings froze the president’s initial ban on transgender troops — issued in July — as potentially unconstitutional.
“In my professional judgement, these policies will place the Department of Defencse in the strongest position to protect the American people, to fight and win America’s wars, and to ensure the survival and success of our service members around the world,” Mattis wrote in a summary of his recommendations to the president.
The policy announcement outraged advocates for transgender troops, and the advocates vowed to fight the limits in court.
“There is no evidence to support a policy that bars from military service patriotic Americans who are medically fit and able to deploy,” said Aaron Belkin, the director of the Palm Center, which focuses on sexuality and the military. “Our troops and our nation deserve better.” In a series of Twitter posts in July, Trump announced that “the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the US. Military.”
He said he decided to issue the ban after consulting generals and military experts, although Mattis was given only a day’s notice. In August, Trump directed the Pentagon reverse an Obama administration policy that had allowed transgender people — or those diagnosed with gender dysphoria, or had discomfort with their biological gender — to serve in the military.