In a huge move, the U.S. Department of Defense is expected to announce this week that it is readying to welcome transgender military members.
Senior Pentagon officials confirmed to the Associated Press on Monday that they are about to set in motion a plan to ultimately lift the military’s ban on transgender service members. The six-month study period will be designed to allow the military branches to iron out any “legal, medical or administrative” issues before the ban is fully reversed. The full plan is expected to be unveiled later this week.
National Center for Transgender Equality executive director Mara Keisling called the news a “positive sign that [the DOD] understand[s] that open trans military service is desirable and inevitable. The Pentagon’s rickety system of discrimination against us is falling apart. It is in everyone’s interest that the 15,000 or so currently serving trans people be allowed to serve openly and honorably. The Pentagon knows, as we do, how this review is going to end. The National Center for Transgender Equality urges the Department of Defense to quickly end the discriminatory policy and allow trans people to serve openly and with dignity.”
“We are thrilled the Department of Defense will finally be taking the necessary steps to allow our transgender service members to serve openly and honestly,” added American Military Partner Association president Ashley Broadway-Mack. “We look forward in anticipation to the announcement this week and being able to review the process and implementation.”
The military lifted its “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on openly LGB service members in 2011.
Human Rights campaign president Chad Griffin said transgender service members have waited far too long for the discriminatory ban to be lifted.
“The time for ending the military’s longstanding ban on transgender service is long overdue,” he said. “Values that represent the foundation of our armed services — including integrity, respect and courage — will become more true when these outdated regulations are finally updated. We welcome reports that the Pentagon is planning to announce it will end the ban, and we will carefully review their plan for doing so.”