The US army will “fully recognize” the new names of two transgender veterans, the ACLU announced Tuesday, clearing the pair’s path to receive veterans’ benefits and giving new hope to transgender members of the military.
The veterans, named by the ACLU only as Jennifer and Nicolas, live in New Jersey and received notice last week that the army had changed the genders statuses on their certificate of release or discharge documents. The veterans can now easily receive veterans’ benefits in work and their homes.
The army board for correction of military records had elected to reject Jennifer and Nicolas’ request, but the board’s deputy assistant secretary overrode that recommendation.
“This is about much more than a change on a piece of paper,” Jennifer said in a statement released by the ACLU. “This is about the relief of knowing that when I apply for a job, or a home loan, or anything where my veteran status is relevant, I can do it as myself.”
“This small change in a personnel document means a huge change for veterans like me,” Nicolas, the other veteran, said in the statement. He served for nine years in the New Jersey national guard. Jennifer served in the army for 29 years, won a Bronze Star and left the military as a sergeant major.
The ACLU, which advocates for LGBT rights and has campaigned for changes in the military, hailed the decision, saying: “We hope this action signals a new direction for the army, if not all branches of the military, and indicates a new sensitivity to the barriers faced by transgender veterans.”
Although the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in 2011 has allowed gay and lesbian members of the military to serve while being open about their sexual orientation, the US military still officially prohibits transgender people in its ranks.
In May 2014, defense secretary Chuck Hagel said he would be “open” to a review of the ban and suggested the military should “continually” review it, declaring “every qualified American who wants to serve our country should have an opportunity if they fit the qualifications and can do it.”
He hedged that statement with regard to transgender people, saying their sexual status made their service “a bit more complicated because it has a medical component”.
Until August, the Defense Department described transgender people as suffering from a “congenital or developmental defect” and associated the sexual orientation as one of sexual deviancy and “paraphilia”. Under these terms, the military could summarily dismiss transgender people from service.
The new terms stipulate that the Pentagon can only discharge personnel if their performance were compromised by perceived “defects” – a possible loophole in policy for transgender people already serving. But the ban remains in place and none of the military branches have changed their own discharge guidelines.
The New Jersey veterans are not the first transgender people whose orientation the military has been recognized to some degree, however.
In May 2013, the navy changed veteran Autumn Sandeen’s status to female, though it still lists her as a man in historical records and her discharge papers. In April 2014, convicted private Chelsea Manning won a petition to have her name changed from Bradley; the judge in her case did not however order the military to treat her as a woman or comply with her requests for hormone treatment.
For active service members the situation is more fraught, often with contradictory orders between officers and acceptance among soldiers, as in the stories of army captain Sage Fox and navy petty officer Landon, detailed in the Washington Post. Fox, a 14-year veteran, was ordered to reserve forces after commanders realized the discrepancy between her papers and orientation. The navy told Wilson “to transition or to serve” despite his exemplary service and commanders’ misgivings. Wilson chose an honorable discharge.
The Palm Center and Williams Institute, California thinktanks on LGBT issues, estimate there are as many as 15,000 transgender people in the US military and national guard. A Palm Center panel of former military and government leaders petitioned the military to change its policy, writing that there is “no medical reason to presume transgender individuals are unfit for duty”. The panel also noted that nations including the UK, Canada and Australia allow transgender people to serve in the military.
