One of the last official barriers to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender service in the U.S. military is falling away.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced Monday that a new working group is being given six months to study the policy and readiness implications of "welcoming" transgender people to serve openly.
"At my direction, the working group will start with the presumption that transgender persons can serve openly without adverse impact on military effectiveness and readiness, unless and except where objective, practical impediments are identified," Carter said in a statement.
The Defense Department’s current regulations prohibiting open transgender service are "outdated and are causing uncertainty that distracts commanders from our core missions," Carter said.
The U.S. military has "transgender soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines — real, patriotic Americans — who I know are being hurt by an outdated, confusing, inconsistent approach that’s contrary to our value of service and individual merit," Carter added.
On Dec. 22, 2010, the president signed legislation that led to the repeal of "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell," the ban on openly gay service in the U.S. military, but barriers remain to transgender troops.
"I cannot contain myself! They are lifting the ban!" Army Sgt. Shane Ortega, a transgender soldier at Wheeler Army Airfield, posted on Facebook.
Ortega has become one of the most outspoken advocates in the Army for transgender service.
An estimated 15,500 transgender troops are on active duty and in the Guard or Reserve, according to the Williams Institute, which conducts research on sexual orientation at UCLA.
Ortega, 28, a three-time Iraq and Afghanistan veteran, contends that number is low. He said he personally knows about 25 transgender military members currently serving in Hawaii.
"There are at least one to two in each command," he said.
Ortega returned Monday evening from Washington, D.C., where he met with Pentagon leadership about making the transition to open transgender service.
"There’s still much work to do," he said. "It’s cool that we have a plan, but now we have to make it work."
Ortega said he talked with Pentagon officials about the big issues of a transition plan including implementation, creating an LGBT liaison, and policy enforcement.
"I talked about everything — bathrooms, berthing. I talked about the climate of commanders and what commanders need to know, the culture of being in an all-male unit," he said.
Over the past year, service branches have allowed some individuals to serve openly without risking immediate separation, but regulations on the books keep them in a constant state of administrative limbo, said the American Civil Liberties Union.
"Trans people are willing and able to serve their country, and should be able to do so while remaining true to who they are," Joshua Block, senior staff attorney in the ACLU’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and HIV Project, said in a release.
Carter also elevated decision authority for any administrative discharges for gender dysphoria or those who identify themselves as transgender to Brad Carson, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness.
In 2013 the mental health manual used by psychiatrists replaced "gender identity disorder" with "gender dysphoria" for individuals who see and feel themselves to be a different gender from their assigned gender, according to the American Psychiatric Association.
"It is important to note that gender nonconformity is not in itself a mental disorder," the association said. "The critical element of gender dysphoria is the presence of clinically significant distress associated with the condition."
The American Medical Association in June passed a resolution affirming "there is no medically valid reason to exclude transgender individuals from service in the U.S. military."
Some of the key concerns involved in the repeal of the ban include whether the military would conduct or pay for the medical costs, surgeries and other treatment associated with any gender transition, as well as which physical training or testing standards transgender individuals would be required to meet during different stages of their transition, the Associated Press reported.
"I’m really thrilled and overwhelmed," Ortega said of the Pentagon decision. "I’m really happy that all these people can finally hold their heads high."
