CRS INSIGHT
Transgender Servicemembers: Policy Shifts and
Considerations for Congress
July 26, 2017 (IN10740)
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Kristy N. Kamarck
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Kristy N. Kamarck, Analyst in Military Manpower (kkamarck@crs.loc.gov, 7-7783)
A series of Twitter
posts on July, 26, 2017, by President Donald J. Trump are widely being interpreted as a shift in
Department of Defense (DOD) policy on service in the Armed Forces by individuals who are transgender, stating
After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not
accept or allow......
….Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and
overwhelming…..
….victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military
would entail. Thank you
Background: Policy Evolution
Prior to 2016, DOD policy treated the physical and psychological aspects of transgender conditions as (1) grounds for
the discharge of existing service members, and (2) a disqualifying condition for new accessions through enlistment or
commissioning. However, on June 30, 2016, then-Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter announced that "transgender
Americans may serve openly, and they can no longer be discharged or otherwise separated from the military just for
being transgender."
DOD's concomitant policy issuance (DODI 1300.28), effective October 1, 2016,
established a construct by which transgender Service members may transition gender while serving,
enumerated prerequisites and prescribed procedures for changing a Service member's gender marker in the
Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS), and
specified medical treatment provisions for Active Component (AC) and Reserve Component (RC) transgender
Service members.
Former Secretary Carter also announced plans to begin to admit transgender recruits by July 1, 2017, stating "the gender
