Pentagon has decided to include Transgender recruits in the military beginning January 1. This decision came in wake after President Donald Trump’s ordered ban suffered more legal setbacks, The Hindu reported.
On Monday, the new policy was introduced following the failed attempt of enforcing Trump’s demand earlier this year to ban transgender individuals from the military. The federal government wouldn't take any chance of having to cross various legal difficulties due to the barring.
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Three federal courts have ruled against the ban including the one in Washington state.
Now potential transgender recruits will have to pass a rigorous set of physical, medical and mental conditions if they want to join the armed services, making it more challenging.
To make it more restricted, Pentagon has decided to chalk out those who had gender dysphoria or a past medical record of gender transition treatments, according to Eastburn.
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"Individuals would need a certificate from a healthcare provider that they've been clinically stable with their stated gender for 18 months and are unencumbered with 'significant distress or impairment in social, occupation or other import areas'," according to the AP. Those are under hormone therapy must be stable on medication for some 18 months.
According to Maj. David Eastburn, a Pentagon spokesman, the enlistment will start next year and go on normally since the legal battles are yet not settled. The Defense Department also is studying the issue, the Associated Press reported.
In 2016, the Obama administration announced its decision to take the ban off on transgender members. However, Trump made evident efforts on Twitter in July to enforce the ban on transgender persons in the military.
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"The court will not stay its preliminary injunction pending defendants' appeal," Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the District of Columbia wrote. Further, it noted, "In sum, having carefully considered all of the evidence before it, the court is not persuaded that defendants will be irreparably injured by allowing the accession of transgender individuals into the military beginning on January 1, 2018."
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Feature image credit: indiatimes
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