Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Thursday announced an end to the military’s ban on transgender troops, removing the last barrier to service in the U.S. armed forces.
“I’m announcing today that we’re ending the ban on transgender Americans in the United States military,” Carter said at a Pentagon news conference. “Effective immediately, transgender Americans may serve openly and they can no longer be discharged or otherwise separated from the military just for being transgender.”
Carter’s directive covers a number of issues raised by the new policy, including new guidelines that allow service members to transition to a different gender while serving, as well as setting standards
The new policy takes effect Oct. 1, and will be phased in over a one-year period.
But as of Thursday, service members may no longer be involuntarily separated, discharged or denied re-enlistment solely on the basis of gender identity, and troops on duty will be able to serve openly.
Carter said in 90 days, the department will issue a guidebook for commanders who oversee transgender troops, and the services will conduct training for commanders, medical personnel and the operating forces. In one year, transgender people will be allowed to join the military, as long they meet existing standards.
Carter said the year-long implementation period was to take into account the concerns of the services chiefs, in particular the input of Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford, who was not at the Pentagon announcement.
“I made adjustments to the implementation plan timeline to incorporate those recommendations. The chairman has indicated the services support the final implementation timeline that I’ve laid out today.”
The Pentagon says there is no definitive data on the how many transgender troops are serving among the 1.3 million active duty members of the U.S. military, but cited a RAND study that estimated the number is between 2,500 and 7,000, with another 1,500 to 4,000 in the reserves.
“I think it’s been fair to say this has been an educational process [for people in the department] and even me,” Carter said. “We were guided by one question: Is someone the best qualified service member to accomplish our mission?”
A big question is to what extent the military would be on the hook for the cost of gender reassigmnet surgery. Carter said the military would pay for medical care that doctors judge to be necessary for all who are serving now.
But Carter inisted that the medical costs would be mininal, expecially because the policy requires new transgender recruits to have already completed their transition and be “stable in their gender” for at least 18 months before they can enlist.
As Carter was still speaking, Rep. Mac Thornberry, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said the Pentagon and president are “prioritizing politics over policy.”
“Our military readiness — and hence, our national security — is dependent on our troops being medically ready and deployable. The administration seems unwilling or unable to assure the Congress and the American people that transgender individuals will meet these individual readiness requirements at a time when our armed forces are deployed around the world.
“Over the next few weeks, we are going to continue to push for actual answers to the readiness questions we’ve been asking for nearly a year to which we have still not received a response,” the Texas Republican said. “We will also be looking at legislative options to address the readiness issues associated with this new policy.”
The Washington Examiner read a portion of Thornberry’s statement to Carter as he was wrapping up his announcement. “The chairman is right to emphasize readiness, that was a key part of our study and will be a key part of implimentation,” Carter said.
“We have some principles here, we have a necessity here, and we are going to act upon that.”
The committee’s ranking member, Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., called the end of the ban “an important step toward ensuring that our military is strong and inclusive.
“By providing clarity for the service branches and removing an obsolete policy that has made it more difficult for our men and women in uniform to do their jobs, this policy will strengthen, not reduce, the military’s ability to defend the United States.”
