Military seeks more time on transgender rules

WASHINGTON -- Senior military leaders expressed concerns this week that the start of Pentagon rules allowing transgender people to serve openly in the U.S. military is moving too quickly, arguing that a number of details and questions still must be resolved, several senior U.S. officials said.

The Pentagon plans to unveil the new regulations this week, almost a year after Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced his intention to end one of the last gender-based barriers to military service. A senior U.S. official said Carter met this week with his military leaders, heard their concerns and made some adjustments to the timeline for implementing the plan.

Under the new policy, transgender individuals will be allowed to serve in the military and can no longer be forced to leave on the basis of their gender identity. Officials familiar with the plan said it states that service in the military should be open to anyone who can meet the rigorous service standards.

According to officials, the plan says that people with gender dysphoria, a history of medical treatments associated with gender transition and those who have had reconstruction surgery may be disqualified as military recruits unless a medical provider certifies that they have been clinically stable in the preferred gender for 18 months and are free of significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas.

They said transgender troops receiving hormone therapy must be stable on the medication for 18 months.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk about sensitive policy discussions before the decisions are made public.

During a private meeting this week, military leaders expressed concern about being given as little as 45 days to develop an implementation plan and another 45 days to put it in place. They said that timeline isn't enough, and they asked Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to relay their concerns to Carter.

In the meeting, the military leaders said the Defense Department should set up a panel of experts that could have up to a year to go over and fully implement the policy, to ensure that decisions are fair and consistent across the military services.

According to defense officials, the military leaders made clear that they are not opposed to the policy change. But they said they believe that the new draft policy doesn't include enough specifics to guide commanders who will have to make decisions about people in their units. They said the new rules should be rolled out in phases over the next several months.

A Section on 06/30/2016

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