Transgender Awareness Week is a time to educate ourselves and our community about the issues faced by transgender individuals. It is a week to remember those who have faced violence and death due to prejudice and to celebrate the lives and contributions of transgender people in every community. This is the fourth in a five-part educational series for Transgender Awareness Week.
Transgender Awareness Week Part 4
Military Service
Much of the public debate around LGBT military service has centered primarily on gay and lesbian service members, and not on the many service members whose gender identity continues to place them at risk for discharge.
Can transgender people serve in the military?
No. The Department of Defense has regulations preventing transgender people from serving in the military based on physical and mental factors. During a service member’s scheduled physical exam the military can learn of their sex reassignment surgery which is classified by the military as “major abnormalities and defects of the genitalia.” This can lead to the discharge of the service member.
Even if a service member has not had surgery they can still be discharged if they openly identify as transgender. This is considered a disqualifying psychiatric condition under the category of “psychosexual conditions.”
Additionally, wearing clothing that the military does not consider gender appropriate can be labeled as “cross-dressing” and will likely lead to discipline or criminal prosecution.
Wait, wasn’t Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repealed?
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) regulates military service by lesbian, gay, and bisexual people and does not address service by transgender individuals. Therefore, the repeal of DADT does not directly address transgender service. However while DADT was in force, it did have negative impact on the lives of transgender service members. Even though DADT did not directly apply to transgender identity, transgender and other gender-nonconforming individuals were often perceived as lesbian, gay, or bisexual. This increased the likelihood that they would be investigated under DADT. Thus DADT targeted service members regardless of actual sexual orientation. Further, DADT disproportionately affected service members who were female, female-bodied, or on the FTM continuum.
The repeal of DADT alleviates some of the scrutiny to which transgender service members are subject to, but it does not sufficiently address the major difficulties faced by transgender individuals within existing military policy and culture. Transgender service members continue to experience great emotional distress from being forced to conceal their true gender identity and kept from aligning their appearance with their internal sense of gender while in service. DADT’s repeal has been celebrated as a victory for the LGBT community, despite its explicit exclusion of transgender people. Given the existing issues of transgender invisibility within the wider LGBT movement, this has been a source of resentment for many in the queer and trans community.
Service Member Experiences
The Transgender American Veterans Association conducted a survey of transgender veteran and service member experiences across all branches of the military. Their results showed:
- Of the participants who identified as transsexual, 97% reported they were unable to transition before leaving the military.
- A full 38% of survey respondents reported that when they were in the military, people suspected or directly asked if they were gay. In addition, 14% had been questioned by an officer about their sexual orientation.
- These violations of “don’t ask, don’t tell” varied by gender. Transmen were almost two times more likely to report they were suspected of being gay than transwomen.
- Nearly one third of the survey participants reported having experienced some form of discrimination in the workplace; the same amount reported some other form of non-employment related discrimination, such as being unable to obtain identification documents that reflected their new name and gender.
The full report can be found HERE.
What about veterans?
For transgender veterans seeking medical care, data shows that those who access Veterans Administration(VA) hospitals often tend to be older, unemployed or underemployed, and low-income or living in poverty. Transgender veterans in the VA system are much more vulnerable than the larger transgender veteran population and acquire care through VA institutions likely due to lack of alternatives.
There are clear disparities in access to healthcare from within the VA for transgender individuals. Transgender patients in the VA system report discrimination/harassment, denial of services, and disrespect from across all levels of staff including VA doctors, non-medical staff, and nurses. Around one-third of those using VA services broach the subject of medical gender transitions with VA staff and most have their requests denied. The new Veteran’s Association (VA) directive seeks to address some of these issues. It states that all VA staff must provide transgender patients care “without discrimination in a manner consistent with care and management of all Veteran patients.” This directive also reiterates coverage for medically necessary healthcare for transgender veterans such as sex-specific care like mammograms and pap smears and transition-related care like hormonal therapy and mental health services. The VA still does not perform or pay for sex reassignment surgery in accordance with existing regulation.
Due to the inability of transgender service members to be open about their identity the number of transgender veterans is not known. However, according to the National Transgender Discrimination Survey 20% of its 6,450 transgender survey respondents are veterans.
What are global views on transgender military service?
The current U.S. military orientation to transgender service members – which is both pathologizing and punitive – is not the only possible approach. At least 10 countries, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Israel, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, and the United Kingdom permit transgender military service in some form. Around the world, integrated militaries with provisions for transgender service are not only possible, but supported. For example, Canada’s Department of National Defence pays for sex reassignment surgeries in certain cases. Research suggests that allowing coverage for medical gender transitions would not create a financial burden on the military (or other organizations such as businesses and universities, for that matter) due to the small percentage of people actually seeking these interventions.
Profile of a Veteran: Autumn Sandeen
Autumn Sandeen is a Persian Gulf War veteran, serving in the U.S. Navy from 1980 to 2000 as a Fire Controlman. In the Navy she traveled the northern hemisphere, and was assigned during her career to bases in Great Lakes, Illinois; Long Beach, California; Virginia Beach, Virginia; Staten Island, New York; and San Diego. After retiring from the U.S. Navy and receiving her initial disability rating from the VA, she began transitioning as a male-to-female transsexual on February 6, 2003. She is a proud transgender activist and speaks to audiences around the country about her experience in the military. Autumn has been on the steering committee of the Transgender Advocacy And Services Center (TASC) of San Diego. She has previously served as a member of the Transgender Equality Alliance (TEA) of California and past secretary of the Transgender American Veteran’s Association (TAVA). Autumn is currently the Transgender Chair of DOD Fed Globe‘s Board of Directors, and a provisional board member of GetEqual.
Compiled with information from Transgender American Veterans Association, Service Members Legal Defense Network and National Center for Transgender Equality
Brought to you by OUTbreak and the School of Social Work TBLG Dean’s Initiative