Samikhsya Bureau
The US-based National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) has criticized the Pentagon’s newly-signed memo that sets limits for transgender individuals serving or who wish to serve in the military, dubbing it a “purge.”
Signed on Tuesday, the memo will take effect April 12 and will ban transgender people from enlisting if they had underwent transition surgery or were currently undergoing hormone treatment, and will bar them from getting such treatments. After April 12, servicemen who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria after enlisting will have to serve under their biological sex. However, currently serving transgenders and those who sign an enlistment contract by April 12 may proceed or continue with hormone treatment and their gender transition while in the military.
“The start of this looming purge represents an unprecedented step backward in the social and civil progress of our country and our military. Throughout our nation’s history, we have seen arbitrary barriers in our military replaced with inclusion and equal standards. This is the first time in American history such a step forward has been reversed, and it is a severe blow to the military and to the nation’s values,” according to the NCTE statement, issued late on Tuesday.
Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi has criticized the memo, stressing that President Donald Trump’s revival of this “bigoted, disgusting ban” was merely “a stunning attack on the patriots who keep us safe and on the most fundamental ideals of our nation.”
Currently some 15,000 transgender individuals serve in the US military, according to data from the NCTE.
Transgender people were officially allowed into service under President Barack Obama’s administration back in 2016. In summer 2017, however, Trump tweeted that transgender individuals would not be allowed to serve “in any capacity in the US military,” explaining that the military could not be “burdened with the tremendous medical costs.” The unexpected announcement created waves of condemnation on social media and drew ire from numerous politicians and human rights groups. (UNI)
