Pentagon moves toward lifting ban on transgender troops/LAT [View all]

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

Who would have ever thought...

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-transgender-troops-20150713-story.html

The Pentagon took a significant step Monday toward lifting its ban on allowing transgender men and women to serve in the military, announcing a six-month study designed to clear the way.

The study 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," Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter said in a statement announcing the move.

"We must ensure that everyone who's able and willing to serve has the full and equal opportunity to do so, and we must treat all our people with the dignity and respect they deserve," he added.

The Pentagon does not have a precise count of how many transgender men and women are in the services now, since they face discharge if they reveal their identities. The Palm Center, a research institute based in San Francisco, estimates there are about 15,500 transgender members of the U.S. military, “making the Department of Defense the largest employer of transgender people in America.”