Transgender ban lifted, may now serve openly in US military, Pentagon announces

Transgender individuals may now serve in the U.S. military, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced Thursday, June 30 in the wave of the country's sweeping transgender movement.

"This is the right thing to do for our people and for the force," stated Carter during his news conference in Pentagon when he announced the military's decision to lift the ban on transgender people.

Carter discussed the one-year timeline for the full implementation of the new policy. By October, the Defense Eligibility Enrollment System (DEERS) should already be updated to reflect a service member's gender identity.

Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Peter Levine would have one year to oversee the implementation of the revised regulations and forms as well as the training and implementation guidance to members of the force.

Upon reaching the one year time mark, transgender individuals who qualify the accession standards would already be admissible to the armed forces.

What should immediately end after Carter's announcement would be gender discrimination within the military that usually leads to involuntary separation, discharge, and denied reenlistment.

According to Military.com, Carter cited Rand Corp.'s statistics that indicated an upper range estimate of about 7,000 transgender service members on active duty and 4,000 in the reserves. Carter believes the new policy would open up the military to the nation's vast human resource of "talented Americans."

In July last year, Carter signaled an intention to lift the transgender ban in the military by directing a study on how transgender members can serve openly without causing negative effects on military effectiveness and readiness.

"We have transgender soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines — real, patriotic Americans — who I know are being hurt by an outdated, confusing, inconsistent approach that's contrary to our value of service and individual merit," said Carter.

Social conservatives criticized the military's decision to lift the transgender ban as part of President Barack Obama's sweeping transgender movement.

"Considering the abysmal condition of our military and a decline in readiness, why is this a top priority for the Obama administration?" executive vice president of the Family Research Council, Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Jerry Boykin, said in a statement shared with The Christian Post. "No new science has led to the Pentagon's transgender study — only the politics of the Obama administration and the transgender movement."