Pentagon hopes to lift ban on transgender troops

Jacob Nierenberg • Feb 6, 2018

Feb 6, 2018

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                <h1>Pentagon hopes to lift ban on transgender troops</h1>
                <h2><p>CNN, The New York Times, TIME, and countless others report that the Pentagon is finalizing plans to allow openly transgender people to serve in the U.S. military. While the announcement may bring back memories of the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” in 2011, the current movements</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/jacob-nierenberg-crosscut-com/">Jacob Nierenberg</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
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            <p><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/13/politics/pentagon-may-lift-ban-on-transgender-people/?ref=avalancheghost.one">CNN</a>, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/14/us/pentagon-plan-would-let-transgender-people-serve-openly.html?_r=0&ref=avalancheghost.one">The New York Times</a>, <a href="http://time.com/3956512/transgender-military-service-ban-2/?ref=avalancheghost.one">TIME</a>, and countless others report that the Pentagon is finalizing plans to allow openly transgender people to serve in the U.S. military. While the announcement may bring back memories of the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” in 2011, the current movements are a little more complicated than that. In the case of transgender soldiers, the military must iron out policies around whether the soldiers wish to transition through hormones and/or surgery, as well as other medical and legal issues. But the Pentagon hopes that the new policy will be in effect by early next year. It is estimated that more than 15,000 transgender people are currently enlisted in the military.</p>
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CNN, The New York Times, TIME, and countless others report that the Pentagon is finalizing plans to allow openly transgender people to serve in the U.S. military. While the announcement may bring back memories of the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” in 2011, the current movements are a little more complicated than that. In the case of transgender soldiers, the military must iron out policies around whether the soldiers wish to transition through hormones and/or surgery, as well as other medical and legal issues. But the Pentagon hopes that the new policy will be in effect by early next year. It is estimated that more than 15,000 transgender people are currently enlisted in the military.

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By Jacob Nierenberg

Jacob Nierenberg is an editorial intern at Crosscut. He has lived in Washington for nearly all of his life, and still proudly identifies with the Pacific Northwest despite his relocation to Stanford U