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U.S. Military Transgender Policy

jollyjacktar said:
Get ready for the next shit storm initiated by POTUS.

I first saw this on a friends' FB feed.  His comment pretty much summed up my thoughts, esp when his platform while campaigning for this job was pro (or at least not obviously anti) LGBTQ.

"I think that he gets up every morning and uses a dart board to decide who he's going to be randomly hateful to that day."
 
jollyjacktar said:
Get ready for the next crap storm initiated by POTUS.

Will I don't claim to be the most open minded individual with the T part of LGBT. I see this as such a horrible move.

The fact he is touring it for financial reasons is laughable. Sure it is an expensive procedure. But there is no way the total costs would even be noticible in their military budget. Which he is already increasing.

I wonder how this will affect exchange programs with other military. If one of our trans soldiers applied for a post in the US, and ended up being denied because of the US position on that. Would they have a case for discrimination in our system.
 
'Trump says U.S. military will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military.'


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I wonder how this will affect exchange programs with other military. If one of our trans soldiers applied for a post in the US, and ended up being denied because of the US position on that. Would they have a case for discrimination in our system.

If the person was denied a posting by DND, would their Canadian rights be violated thus be entitled to millions?
 
Rifleman62 said:
If the person was denied a posting by DND, would their Canadian rights be violated thus be entitled to millions?

Still a Little easier to swallow
 
While this *is* political since the POTUS tweeted it, maybe the Mods should move this conversation to the actual Trans thread in the US Military section of the forum?
 
gryphonv said:
I wonder how this will affect exchange programs with other military. If one of our trans soldiers applied for a post in the US, and ended up being denied because of the US position on that. Would they have a case for discrimination in our system.

Tangent, but wouldn't it be the same for a homosexual member of the CAF's posting chances to a country that doesn't legally recognize (or is openly hostile to) it?
 
Dimsum said:
Tangent, but wouldn't it be the same for a homosexual member of the CAF's posting chances to a country that doesn't legally recognize (or is openly hostile to) it?
I remember a CM briefing (back when things were done in person) where the CM was very frank about that. He said gay members wouldn't get the posting because the military wouldn't put the member in a situation where they knew they would be discriminated against. It wasn't in the military's best interest or the members.

I can't see anyone wanting to be put in a situation like that unless they were doing it to prove a point. There are very few instances where it would negatively affect their career not to be given such a posting.
 
https://www.rand.org/news/press/2016/06/30.html

Impact of Transgender Personnel on Readiness and Health Care Costs in the U.S. Military Likely to Be Small

June 30, 2016

If the U.S. military decides to let transgender people serve openly, the number would likely be a small fraction of the total force and have minimal impact on readiness and health care costs, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

The U.S. Department of Defense has been reviewing its policy on allowing transgender personnel to serve openly and receive gender transition-related treatment during military service. The Office of the Secretary of Defense asked RAND, a nonprofit research institution, to study the health care needs of this population, identify potential health care utilization and costs associated with extending health care coverage for transition-related treatments, assess the potential readiness impacts of allowing transgender service members to serve openly, and review the experiences of foreign militaries.

Because there have been no rigorous studies of the size or health care needs for either the U.S. transgender population or the transgender population serving in the military, the RAND study applies a range of estimates from available research to estimate the number of transgender individuals serving in the military.

The study estimates the number of transgender individuals currently serving in the active component of the U.S. military at between 1,320 and 6,630 out of a total of about 1.3 million service members. However, not all of these transgender service members would be expected to seek medical treatment related to their gender status or become nondeployable.

“Only a small portion of service members would likely seek gender transition-related medical treatments that would affect their deployability or health care costs,” said Agnes Gereben Schaefer, lead author of the study and a senior political scientist at RAND.

The study estimates that between 30 and 140 new hormone treatments could be initiated a year and 25 to 130 gender transition-related surgeries could be utilized a year among active component service members. Additional health care costs could range between $2.4 million and $8.4 million, representing an approximate 0.13-percent increase.

In terms of readiness, RAND estimates that 10 to 130 active component members each year could have reduced deployability as a result of gender transition-related treatments. This amount is negligible relative to the 102,500 nondeployable soldiers in the Army alone in 2015, 50,000 of them in the active component.

Eighteen countries allow transgender personnel to serve openly in their militaries. RAND researchers focused on the policies of four with the most well developed and publicly available policies on transgender military personnel: Australia, Canada, Israel and the United Kingdom.

In these militaries, a service member's gender is considered to have shifted in terms of housing, uniforms, identification cards, showers and restrooms when a service member publicly discloses an intention to live as the target gender and receives a diagnosis of gender incongruence. However, physical fitness standards typically do not fully shift until the gender transition is medically complete. In no case did the RAND team find evidence of an effect on operational effectiveness, operational readiness or cohesion.

“The foreign militaries we studied have reported harassment and bullying incidents, but these effects have been mitigated by having clear policies and comprehensive training across their militaries,” Schaefer said.

If the U.S. Defense Department were to decide to allow transgender service members to serve openly, the RAND study recommends the department:

-Make sure there is strong leadership support
-Develop an explicit written policy on all aspects of the gender transition process
-Provide education and training to the rest of the force on transgender personnel policy, but integrate this with other diversity-related training and education
-Develop and enforce a clear anti-harassment policy that treats harassment aimed at transgender personnel like other forms of harassment
-Make subject-matter experts and gender advisers serving within military units available to commanders seeking guidance or advice
-Identify and communicate the benefits of an inclusive and diverse workplace.

Other authors of the study, “Assessing Implications of Allowing Transgender Service Members to Serve Openly,” include Radha K. Iyengar, Srikanth Kadiyala, Jennifer Kavanagh, Charles C. Engel, Kayla M. Williams and Amii M. Kress.

Research for the study was sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense and conducted within the Forces and Resources Policy Center of RAND's National Defense Research Institute, a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the Unified Combatant Commands, the Department of the Navy, the Marine Corps, the defense agencies and the defense intelligence community.
 

Attachments

Tcm621 said:
I remember a CM briefing (back when things were done in person) where the CM was very frank about that. He said gay members wouldn't get the posting because the military wouldn't put the member in a situation where they knew they would be discriminated against. It wasn't in the military's best interest or the members.

I can't see anyone wanting to be put in a situation like that unless they were doing it to prove a point. There are very few instances where it would negatively affect their career not to be given such a posting.

This is the best solution in my book. But I'm sure some would want to push the issue.


Anyways I think the POTUS has a long legal and political battle ahead of him for this to become law. It'll have to go through Congress first, the all the legal challenges. I somehow think most politicians...even in the US... wont want anything to do with this decision.

I suppose Trump could make it an executive order. Then the fireworks would really happen .
 
McCain's press release is essentially a big middle finger to POTUS's tweet.

“The President’s tweet this morning regarding transgender Americans in the military is yet another example of why major policy announcements should not be made via Twitter.

“The statement was unclear. The Department of Defense has already decided to allow currently-serving transgender individuals to stay in the military, and many are serving honorably today. Any American who meets current medical and readiness standards should be allowed to continue serving. There is no reason to force service members who are able to fight, train, and deploy to leave the military—regardless of their gender identity. We should all be guided by the principle that any American who wants to serve our country and is able to meet the standards should have the opportunity to do so—and should be treated as the patriots they are.

“The Department of Defense is currently conducting a study on the medical obligations it would incur, the impact on military readiness, and related questions associated with the accession of transgender individuals who are not currently serving in uniform and wish to join the military. I do not believe that any new policy decision is appropriate until that study is complete and thoroughly reviewed by the Secretary of Defense, our military leadership, and the Congress.

“The Senate Armed Services Committee will continue to follow closely and conduct oversight on the issue of transgender individuals serving in the military.”

https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=80124D36-EF8B-4CBD-A75A-9C6C697CA235
 
Dimsum said:
McCain's press release is essentially a big middle finger to POTUS's tweet.

https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=80124D36-EF8B-4CBD-A75A-9C6C697CA235

I would of loved to see a McCain presidency... this guy who by all rights earned his r and r... is essentially dying of a brain tumor ... still willing to fight for what he views is right .

Most after brain tumor surgery would of disappeared from the spotlight.

 
I'm wondering if he is meaning "the recruitment of"?  One isn't getting into our military if you were facing several operations and rounds of ( legal) drug use for any kind of other reasons.
 
That awkward moment when a draft dodger tries to tell you you aren't cut out to continue serving...
 
There's an entertaining photograph on the Bourque Newswatch main page at http://www.bourque.org/, but it'll not likely be up for long.
 
tomahawk6 said:
I would bet this initiative only lasts until the next President.

Well, that prediction certainly came true, T6.  Now, do you have tonight's 6/49 numbers for me?
 
Haggis said:
Well, that prediction certainly came true, T6.  Now, do you have tonight's 6/49 numbers for me?

But you will have to wait 2 years to see if it worked......
 
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