Here’s what we know, and don’t know, about Jim Mattis’ transgender policy

But Mattis declined to explain his proposal on Monday, leaving the document sent to Trump to stand on its own.

“We are out to build the most lethal service. Right now, because these are matters under litigation I am not going to discuss them further,” Mattis said Monday when asked to explain the policy. “I think the statements stand on their own right now.”

Here is what we know about the new transgender policy:

Whose policy is it? The policy was recommended by Mattis following a three-month study and input from Pentagon officials. Trump tweeted in July that transgender troops would no longer be allowed to serve “in any capacity” and in August he gave the Pentagon a deadline to end the Obama administration’s open service policy as well as funding for gender reassignment surgeries by last Friday. But Mattis sent a more nuanced proposal to Trump on Feb. 22 and the president accepted it.

Is the new policy in effect? No. The 44-page study and proposed policy that Mattis sent to Trump are still just recommendations. The Pentagon will likely have to formally enact a new personnel policy at some point in the future. For now, the issue is tied up in the courts due to four federal lawsuits filed in Washington, Maryland, California, and Washington state that aim to stop the Trump administration’s new transgender policy. The Pentagon is barred from changing its transgender policy by four injunctions while the cases progress.

What is gender dysphoria? The Mattis study quotes the American Psychiatric Association, which describes the medical condition known as gender dysphoria as a marked conflict between a person’s assigned gender and their preferred gender that lasts more than six months. The APA also says the condition is associated with “clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning.” Many but not all transgender people are diagnosed with gender dysphoria. People with gender dysphoria suffer from higher rates of anxiety, depression, and substance abuse than the general population, according to the Mattis study. (In another twist in the debate, the APA has opposed Mattis’ policy and said it will have a “negative impact on the mental health of those targeted.”)

Who can and can’t serve? This is where Mattis’ recommendations get tricky. Transgender troops who came out under the policy unveiled by the Obama administration beginning in 2016 are grandfathered. So they can remain in the military, continue to receive all the same medical care, and serve in their preferred gender. That includes at least two transgender people who enlisted this year. However, anyone who has had or requires gender transition medical care would not be allowed to join or serve in the military. A medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria would also disqualify new recruits, unless that person has been free of symptoms for three years.

What if a currently serving service member is diagnosed with gender dysphoria after the new policy takes effect?

Those troops can stay as long as they meet all the standards of their biological sex, do not need transition medical care, and have been able to deploy for more than a 12-month period. That means a gender dysphoria diagnosis, on its own, will not get you booted from the service. But those troops will also not be provided recommended medical care such as hormone treatment or gender reassignment surgery.

How many transgender people are in the military? The Pentagon has claimed for months that it did not know how many transgender people are serving, but the Mattis study and recommendations provide new figures that had not previously been disclosed. Here is what we learned:

• 8,980 service members identify as transgender in an anonymous workplace survey

• 937 have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria

• 424 are in military treatment plans

• 34 have undergone non-genital sex reassignment surgeries

• 1 has had genital reassignment surgery

• 22 have requested waivers for genital reassignment surgery

What if a service member tells friends, or his or her commander, that he or she identifies with a different gender? The policy does not say. But it allows transgender troops to serve openly and to remain in the military even if they are diagnosed with gender dysphoria after enlisting. But those troops would be required to adhere to all the standards — from physical fitness to grooming — associated with their biological gender. If they cannot, a commander could refer them for a medical evaluation. Any inability or refusal to meet standards, the need for gender transition, or the inability to deploy could be grounds for separation.

Is a commander required to report service members who disclose they don’t identify with their birth gender, or to demand those people are diagnosed? Mattis’ recommendations do not say.

Why is it OK for currently serving transgender troops to stay in the military, but not OK for people to enlist with diagnosed gender dysphoria? The study contends that currently serving transgender troops can be deemed unable to deploy due to medical treatment and accounted for a high number of mental health visits. But Mattis decided the military would not break faith with those troops who came out and enlisted under the prior administration’s policy. “The reasonable expectation of these service members that the department would honor their service on the terms that then existed cannot be dismissed,” the study says.

Who opposes the policy? Active-duty transgender troops and transgender people who want to join the military have filed the federal lawsuits against Trump and the Pentagon, and they are being backed by rights groups’ legal counsel in the federal lawsuits. Groups involved in the cases include OutServe-SLDN, Lambda Legal, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders, and the ACLU.

What is next step in the transgender court fight? The Justice Department filed motions Friday in the federal cases asking the courts to dissolve the injunctions, which could free the Pentagon to enact the new policy. The motions argue that litigation should refocus on the newly-unveiled policy recommendations, instead of Trump’s transgender tweets last year that have been the focus of the past six months. To free up the Pentagon’s hand, the motions would have to be granted by each district court individually. But the rights groups Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN will appear in a hearing before the Seattle district court on Tuesday and request the court permanently stop Mattis and the Trump administration from instating what they call a transgender service ban. If granted, the summary judgment could kick the case to an appeals court and move it a step closer to the Supreme Court.