Sailors and Marines this fall will be able to declare they are transgender and change their gender status in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System, although they will not be required to have surgery to reflect their new identity.
Before declaring transgender status, these servicemembers have to be at the start, in the middle of, or finished transitioning. Only then will they be able to ask for a formal gender switch in the database system, Navy Times reports.
For a servicemember to begin the transition process, they have to receive a diagnosis from a doctor stating that a transition is medically necessary.
During the transition process, however, servicemembers will be recognized as the gender of their birth, which means that a man declaring himself a woman will have to complete male physical fitness standards until transition is finished.
“There could be exceptions but as of right now, that’s not where we’re going,” Lt. Jessica Anderson told Navy Times.
“These policies and procedures are premised on the conclusion that open service by transgender Sailors and Marines, while being subject to the same standards and procedures as other members with regard to their medical fitness for duty, physical fitness, uniform and grooming, deployability, and retention, is consistent with military readiness,” Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said, according to Navy Times.
Plans for how transition will work are set to be finalized Oct. 1. Additionally, regular servicemembers will be subject to training on the integration of transgenders into the military and the training has to be conducted before July 1, 2017.
In the meantime, the announcement confirmed that neither sailors nor Marines shall be involuntarily separated from the military because of their shifting gender identity.
In late June, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced the military would overturn the ban on transgender individuals serving openly in the military.
“This is the right thing to do for our people and for the force,” Carter said. “We’re talking about talented Americans who are serving with distinction or who want the opportunity to serve. We can’t allow barriers unrelated to a person’s qualifications prevent us from recruiting and retaining those who can best accomplish the mission.”
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