Transgender ban in the military 'continually should be reviewed,' says Hagel

By ASSOCIATED PRESS and ZOE SZATHMARY
PUBLISHED: 18:43 GMT, 11 May 2014



Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said on Sunday that the military's policy banning transgender service members from serving openly 'continually should be reviewed.'

'I do think it continually should be reviewed,' Hagel said.

Hagel made the remarks while speaking to Martha Raddatz on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos.

'I'm open to that, by the way,' he added. 'I'm open to those assessments, because, again, I go back to the bottom line. Every qualified American who wants to serve our country should have an opportunity if they fit the qualifications and can do it.'

'This is an area that we've not defined enough.'

However, Hagel said on the program 'The issue of transgender is a bit more complicated, because it has a medical component to it.'

'These issues require medical attention. Austere locations where we put our men and women in - in many cases, don't always provide that kind of opportunity.'

A transgender individual is someone who has acquired the physical characteristics of the opposite sex or presents themselves in a way that does not correspond with their sex at birth.

A panel convened by a think tank at San Francisco State University recently estimated that about 15,450 transgender personnel serve in the military and in the National Guard and Reserve.

In 2010, Congress passed legislation allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly.

The National Center for Transgender Equality said it welcomed Hagel's comments. The organization's executive director, Mara Keisling, said the regulations that disqualify transgender recruits and service members are based on outdated prejudices and stereotypes.

'If the secretary were able to meet and talk with the trans service members I've met, he'd understand the answer is self-evident. These are amazing people who serve even though they must hide a basic part of who they are,' Keisling said.

SPART(asterisk)A, an advocacy group made up of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people who now serve or once served in the military, said a review was long overdue.

'Many of our allies, including the UK, Australia and Israel, allow transgender people to serve with pride and honor in their armed forces. It's time for the U.S. to join them,' said Allyson Robinson, the group's policy director and a former Army captain.

A military review of transgender issues could occur as it also deals with questions about how to treat transgender prisoners. Chelsea Manning, a former Army private serving a 35-year prison sentence for providing classified documents to WikiLeaks, is fighting to be treated as a woman. She is seeking a counselor who specializes in gender issues and also wants to get hormone replacement therapy, which the military has said it does not provide.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ender-ban.html
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