The US military will consider opening its doors to transgender people who are currently banned from service and can be booted out if discovered, Pentagon chief Ashton Carter said Monday.
The secretary of defense made the revelation as he unveiled a working group that will be studying the issue during the next six months.
“The Defense Department’s current regulations regarding transgender service members are outdated and are causing uncertainty that distracts commanders from our core missions” he said in a statement.
As a result, the Pentagon “will create a working group to study over the next six months the policy and readiness implications of welcoming transgender persons to serve openly,” he said.
In the United States, despite the 2011 repeal of the divisive “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law, which banned gays from serving openly, transgender people have remained banned.
“At my direction, the working group will start with the presumption that transgender persons can serve openly without adverse impact on military effectiveness and readiness, unless and except where objective, practical impediments are identified,” Carter said.
“We have transgender soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines — real patriotic Americans — who I know are being hurt by an outdated, confusing, inconsistent approach,” he added.
Source: AFP