- [Man] The lesson you are about to view
is designed to assist Army soldiers
in understanding the Army policy on transgender soldiers
so you can participate in implementing the policy
while maintaining morale, readiness,
and good order and discipline.
This presentation will cover transgender policy,
gender transition process,
prohibitions on harassment and discrimination,
terminology surrounding transgender issues,
the responsibilities of a soldier
transitioning to a new gender,
the roles and responsibilities of all soldiers,
and military medical provider responsibilities.
The presentation will conclude with a number of vignettes
outlining situations which leaders may face.
In July 2015, the Secretary of Defense
directed the Department of Defense
to identify practical issues
related to transgender Americans
serving openly in the military
and to develop an implementation plan
that addresses those issues
consistent with military readiness.
On June 30th, 2016, the secretary announced
a new policy allowing open service
of transgender service members.
He outlined three reasons for this change.
Number one, that the Army, Navy, Air Force,
Marine Corps, and Coast Guard need to avail themselves
of all available talent in order to remain
the finest fighting force the world has ever known.
Number two, that there are already
transgender service members in uniform today.
DOD has a responsibility to them and their commanders
to provide clear and more consistent guidance.
And number three, those who want to serve
and can meet the department standards
should be afforded the opportunity to compete to do so.
Army Directive 2016-35,
the Army policy on military service of transgender soldiers,
directs that the Army's open
to all who can meet the standards
for military service and readiness
and remains committed to treating all soldiers
with dignity and respect,
while ensuring good order and discipline.
Again, this training module provides you
with basic information on DOD and Army policy
allowing transgender soldiers to serve
and an overview of roles, responsibilities, and policies.
The Army allows transgender soldiers to serve openly.
Consistent with this policy, the following principles apply.
The Army is open to all soldiers
who can meet the standards for military service.
All soldiers will be treated with respect and dignity,
and good order and discipline will be maintained.
Transgender soldiers will meet the same standards
as any other soldier,
based on their gender identity as recorded
in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System,
commonly known as DEERS.
These include grooming, height/weight,
physical fitness, and drug testing standards.
Soldiers cannot be involuntarily separated,
denied enlistment, or discharged based on gender identity.
Army medical providers diagnose
and provide medically necessary care and treatment
for transgender soldiers eligible for military medical care
in accordance with the guidance for transgender care
issued by the assistant secretary of defense
for health affairs and the Army surgeon general.
That guidance requires that a soldier with a diagnosis
from a military medical provider
indicating that gender transition is medically necessary
will be provided medical care and treatment
to make that gender transition.
Once this care has occurred,
two administrative actions take place.
One, after medical care has been identified
and approved and takes place,
a transgender soldier is considered
gender transition complete.
Two, once this gender transition complete status
has been reached, the soldier's gender marker
in DEERS is changed to indicate
that the soldier is now of that gender
and must adhere to those new military standards.
Soldiers who are transitioning genders
or who have transitioned to a new gender
are entitled to be free of harassment and discrimination.
Inappropriate jokes, attitudes, or comments
that marginalize transgender people
damage the command climate.
Existing Army rules and regulations on harassment,
discrimination, and equal opportunity
apply both on and off duty.
Commanders will ensure that good order
and discipline are adhered to.
Army leaders retain the authority provided by law
and DOD and Army regulations to counsel, discipline,
and involuntarily separate those service members
who fail to obey established standards.
Soldiers need to understand
the terms involving gender identity.
These next two slides will outline those terms.
Terms to be aware of include:
gender identity, which is a soldier's internal
or personal sense of being male or female;
gender dysphoria, which is a medical diagnosis
that refers to distress
that some transgender individuals experience
due to a mismatch between their gender identity
and their sex assigned at birth.
The condition can manifest itself in a person
as strong and persistent cross-gender identification
and a discomfort with their biological sex
or a sense of inappropriateness
in the gender role of that sex.
Medically necessary.
These are healthcare services or supplies
which prevent, diagnose, or treat an illness,
injury, or condition, disease, or its symptoms,
and that meet accepted standards of medicine.
It can be medically necessary to treat gender dysphoria.
Real life experience.
This term applies to the period
in a soldier's gender transition process
where they begin living socially in the gender role
which is consistent with their gender identity.
This normally occurs first in an off-duty status
and before a DEERS gender marker change takes place.
Preferred gender is the gender of the soldier
after the gender transition is complete
and the gender marker is changed in DEERS.
Gender marker, as we have discussed previously,
is the identification of the soldier's gender
in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System.
A transgender soldier is a soldier
who has received a medical diagnosis
indicating that gender transition is medically necessary.
This soldier can intend to begin the process,
be undergoing the transition process,
or be finished with the process
and is stable in their preferred gender.
The gender transition process, as we have already discussed,
begins when a soldier receives the diagnosis
from a military medical provider
indicating that a soldier's gender transition
is medically necessary
and concludes when the DEERS gender marker is changed.
The process can also begin when a military medical provider
confirms a civilian medical diagnosis,
indicating that a gender identity change is required.
Stable in preferred gender occurs
when the medical care identified
or approved by a military medical provider
in a documented medical treatment plan is complete,
no functional limitations or complications persist,
and the individual is not experiencing
clinically significant distress
or impairment in social, occupational,
or other important areas of functioning.
Medical care, including but not limited to
cross-sex hormone therapy,
may still be required to maintain a state of stability.
Each party to the gender transition process
has responsibilities they must meet.
The transgender soldier must initiate the process
and must meet Army standards,
including being prepared to deploy
to an austere environment throughout the transition process.
Military and medical providers must provide a diagnosis
to the transgender soldier, develop a treatment plan,
provide medical treatment,
and confirm when the treatment plan is complete.
Commanders must maintain unit readiness
while supporting the transgender soldier,
approve the timing of the medical treatment plan
to ensure it does not impinge on unit readiness,
and approve the soldier's gender market change in DEERS
upon submission of a completed request.
Commanders should approach
a soldier undergoing gender transition
in the same way they would approach a soldier
undergoing any medically necessary treatment.
Commanders will continue to minimize effects to the mission
and ensure continued unit readiness.
This slide looks in more detail
at the transgender soldier responsibilities.
As you can see, the soldier has the obligation
to initiate the process
and work with the military medical team on a treatment
and must work with the commander
to ensure that unit readiness is not adversely impacted.
The soldier also must meet
the appropriate military appearance,
grooming, and physical fitness standards
during and after gender transition.
Finally, soldiers must use the billeting,
bathroom, and shower facilities
associated with the gender marker in DEERS.
Soldiers must be prepared to deploy
to an austere environment.
It is important to note that reserve component soldiers
seeking gender transition and who are diagnosed
by a civilian medical provider must have that diagnosis
and treatment plan confirmed by a military medical provider.
We will now go through a series of specific situations
which may occur as soldiers interact
with transgender soldiers.
In this situation, a soldier in your unit
tells everyone that although he was born as a male,
he identifies as a female.
He explains that he is in the process
of transitioning from male to female.
Note the considerations and responsibilities
of the command in the right-hand column.
Pause this video if you need more time to read the slide.
In this vignette, a soldier in your unit
is transitioning from male to female.
As part of the medical treatment plan,
the soldier is dressing as a female off-duty.
You did not know that the soldier is transitioning to female
and you see the soldier in a bar wearing a dress and makeup.
Note the actions in the right-hand column
that you should take.
Pause this video if you need more time to read the slide.
In this scenario, a soldier is transitioning
from male to female.
As part of the soldier's medical treatment plan,
the soldier is taking female hormones and voice therapy.
Four months into the medical treatment,
the soldier's body and voice begin to visibly change.
Note the actions soldiers should take.
Pause the video while you read the right-hand column.
In this situation,
a soldier has transitioned from male to female
and the soldier's gender marker in DEERS
has been changed to female.
This transition though did not include
sex reassignment surgery
and the soldier still has male genitalia.
The soldier begins using the female barracks,
bathroom, and shower facilities.
Pause the video and read the considerations
and responsibilities of a soldier in this instance.
This concludes the briefing on the Army's policy
regarding transgender soldiers
articulated in Army Directive 2016-35.
We have discussed transgender policy,
the gender transition process,
prohibitions on harassment and discrimination,
the terminology surrounding transgender issues,
the responsibilities of a soldier
transitioning to a new gender,
and the responsibilities of all soldiers.