Pentagon ends ban on transgender troops in military
By LOLITA C. BALDOR

WASHINGTON (AP) — Transgender people will be allowed to serve openly in the U.S. military, the Pentagon announced Thursday, ending one of the last bans on service in the armed forces.

Saying it's the right thing to do, Defense Secretary Ash Carter laid out a yearlong implementation plan declaring that "Americans who want to serve and can meet our standards should be afforded the opportunity to compete to do so."

"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 at a Pentagon news conference.

Under the new policy, by Oct. 1, transgender troops already serving should be able to receive medical care and begin formally changing their gender identifications in the Pentagon's personnel system.

A year from now, he said, the military services will begin allowing transgender individuals to enlist, as long as they meet required standards and have been stable in their identified genders for 18 months.

Carter's announcement comes despite concerns from senior military leaders that the department is moving too fast and that more time is needed to work through the changes. He said he discussed the plans extensively with his military leaders and that, based on their recommendations, he made adjustments to the timeline. He said he has been told that the services now support the timeline.

Under the new policy, transgender troops would receive any medically necessary care including surgery, Carter said.

The new rules also give military commanders flexibility, noting that not all transition cases are the same. Commanders will have the discretion to make decisions on a case-by-case basis, including on job placement, deployments, training delays and other accommodations, based on the needs of the military mission and whether the service members can perform their duties.

For people coming into the military, the plan says that those with gender dysphoria, a history of medical treatments associated with gender transition and those who have had reconstruction surgery may be disqualified as military recruits unless a medical provider certifies that they have been clinically stable in the preferred gender for 18 months, and are free of significant impairment. And transgender troops receiving hormone therapy must have been stable on their medications for 18 months.

The policy provides broad guidelines for transgender service members currently in the military. They will be able to use the bathrooms, housing, uniforms and fitness standards of their preferred gender only after they have legally transitioned to that identity, according to officials.

Over the next year, the military services will develop and distribute training guidelines, medical protocols and other guidance to help commanders deal with any issues or questions about transgender troops.

Last July, Carter said he intended to rescind the ban, calling it outdated. He has long argued that the military must be more inclusive to bring in the best and brightest.

At the time, he ordered a six-month study to include extensive medical and scientific research and discussions with other nations and companies with experience in the process. He extended the study because the military wanted more time. Officials said he wanted to insure there was no impact on military readiness, but over time, he became frustrated with the slow progress.

Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, the House Armed Services Committee chairman, called the announcement another example of the administration "prioritizing politics over policy. " He questioned whether the change would affect military readiness and said the committee will push for answers.

Others praised the move as historic. The decision, said Aaron Belkin, director of the California-based Palm Center think tank, enhances "readiness as well as core values of honesty and integrity, an enormous accomplishment with a durable impact on all service members."


-- (c) Associated Press 2016-07-01

The logistics of keeping TG's and other male soldiers apart is going to be a nightmare,

unless there is going to form a separate battalion of TG's only, as they're not female, nor male.......

They should ban troops

They should ban troops

Just ban the pentagon !

How long before we see American combat troops with ribbons in their hair?

It does not go far enough, what about those that are "gender fluid" going back and forth, or trans species, furries and such. ?

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 at a Pentagon news conference.

What you will get is an Army of litigation Barristers lining up to rob you blind.

Well done Carter, Great move.

"We couldn't afford more security in Benghazi" Hillary Clinton But you can afford Transgender Medical Treatment?

So,when a soldier gets mad and calls another a Cocx Sucxer ,It just might not be an insult?

thank goodness I served in the NAVY before split tails were allowed on the flight deck. Working with them on land always got me in trouble because if I made a joke or order them to work in the rain like the men they complained to the CO. And the equipment was to heavy and they shake their tails and get boys to do their work.

There places for women in the service (NOT SHIPS), TRANSGENDER, boy I be put in the BRIG for a long time and request a discharge.

Great idea! lets have the trans gender's in the military. Oh..But wait a minute..what toilets and locker rooms will they use?(Especially the ones based in North Tennessee)

One more place to waste the tax-payers hard-earned dollars, doing hormone therapy and gender surgeries. The entire government, including the military command staff, are sharing a single diseased brain.

Technology is a massive advantage in war, but in the end it always comes down to the ground troops. Will be interesting to see how US mixed troops perform in the next war they start.

Ignore the ignorant haters.

Good decision to include all Americans in the military. Stronger together. They will need to pass the same standards as other soldiers. Much ado about very little except for the minority of transgender people that wish to serve their country.

So,when a soldier gets mad and calls another a Cocx Sucxer ,It just might not be an insult?

Don't worry dude. The rights of bigoted, ignorant homophobes and transphobes to spew hate speech remains constitutionally protected. Enjoy!

You miss the point by focussing on M2F. Some Toms are very hard, love violence, and would make very good soldiers. Physically they aren't as strong as men, but does that matter in today's technological world, it's the psychological attributes you're looking for. As a lot of men nowadays are wimps, pulling on another resource might be a good idea. Also, I wouldn't write off M2F transsexuals totally, I seem to recall some native American transsexual going on a war party, killing 2 people, then resuming her life as a wife.

You miss the point by focussing on M2F. Some Toms are very hard, love violence, and would make very good soldiers. Physically they aren't as strong as men, but does that matter in today's technological world, it's the psychological attributes you're looking for. As a lot of men nowadays are wimps, pulling on another resource might be a good idea. Also, I wouldn't write off M2F transsexuals totally, I seem to recall some native American transsexual going on a war party, killing 2 people, then resuming her life as a wife.

You miss the point by focussing on M2F. Some Toms are very hard, love violence, and would make very good soldiers. Physically they aren't as strong as men, but does that matter in today's technological world, it's the psychological attributes you're looking for. As a lot of men nowadays are wimps, pulling on another resource might be a good idea. Also, I wouldn't write off M2F transsexuals totally, I seem to recall some native American transsexual going on a war party, killing 2 people, then resuming her life as a wife.

Well, here we go, all this time, I thought all these military and political gurus took a long time to consider all this shit and got it right because they are smart..

Well, scratch that thought, think again. They are as thick as bricks and if the people employing them think this is right then the whole damn country is nuts.

thank goodness I served in the NAVY before split tails were allowed on the flight deck. Working with them on land always got me in trouble because if I made a joke or order them to work in the rain like the men they complained to the CO. And the equipment was to heavy and they shake their tails and get boys to do their work.

There places for women in the service (NOT SHIPS), TRANSGENDER, boy I be put in the BRIG for a long time and request a discharge.

A lot of Generals and other very high ranking officers have, in deed, retired. Obama met with various "Top Brass" and told them this policy was coming... This was reported months ago on CoastToCoast with George Noory.

You miss the point by focussing on M2F. Some Toms are very hard, love violence, and would make very good soldiers. Physically they aren't as strong as men, but does that matter in today's technological world, it's the psychological attributes you're looking for. As a lot of men nowadays are wimps, pulling on another resource might be a good idea. Also, I wouldn't write off M2F transsexuals totally, I seem to recall some native American transsexual going on a war party, killing 2 people, then resuming her life as a wife.

Toms?

Are you serious?

Sounds like another case of an uninformed conflation of sexual orientation (masculine lesbians) and actual transgender men.

OUT gay men and lesbians have been allowed in the U.S. military for quite some time already.

This change is specifically about TRANSGENDER people (men and women). That is new.

Edited July 1, 201610 yr by Jingthing

On the "bright side," maybe there will be less pregnancies among are troops. 555

Well... they don´t have to deal with hefty PMS with the new law!

Amja

Going into battle was a ladyboy to cover your ass….not for me.

The world is going to hell in a hand basket. My father was right.

The world is going to hell in a hand basket. My father was right.

So hell in a hand basket was described by your father as the point in the world where the military allowed transgender troops?

All this political nonesence, senseless wars, gun violence and all the other ongoing attrocities were of no concern?

Was this really the straw that broke the camels back? 555555 priceless

Going into battle was a ladyboy to cover your ass….not for me.

Perhaps that would be covet.

Well, it should be a VERY simple sorting process. Just build a surgical clinic staffed by military doctors adjoined to every recruiting office. When a male comes in claiming to be female, he gets escorted to the clinic and chopped. When a female comes in claiming to be a male, she gets escorted to the clinic and has 1 sewn on.

Way to go to compromise your military, guys. I know we all want to be equal and everything, but war is serious stuff, it's not paint-balling. You'll have a transgender president next. Oh wait, Bush! ...