In a Sunday speech, the transgender community has somewhat found an ally in one of the US military's top brass, the Christian Science Monitor said. Despite falling short of saying he believed that the policy of transgenders in the military should be overturned, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel did say that the prohibition should be reviewed continually.
"Every qualified American who wants to serve our country should have an opportunity if they fit the qualifications and can do it," Hagel has said.
The CS Monitor said that the US Congress had already opened doors to gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. On the other hand, allowing transgenders in the military might be another matter. A individual identified as a transgender is someone who has adopted the physical characteristics of the other sex. This simply means that a transgender woman in the military would wear the official uniform assigned for military women, while a transgender man would wear the official uniform assigned for men in the military.
The news outlet cited data by a panel that was convened by a think tank at the San Francisco State University, which projected that there are over 15,450 transgenders who currently serve as military, National Guard and Reserve personnel.
The National Center for Transgender Equality's executive director Mara Keisling said that the organization welcomes Hagel's recent comments, and that the current regulations that has denied transgenders to get recruited for military service are based on prejudices and stereotypes that have long been outdated.
"If the secretary were able to meet and talk with the trans service members I've met, he'd understand the answer is self-evident. These are amazing people who serve even though they must hide a basic part of who they are," Keisling said.
CS Monitor said it is not likely that the military would tackle on the issue soon, as it is currently facing the issue on how to treat its transgender prisoners. WikiLeaks' military whistleblower and former Army private Bradley Edward Manning, is now known under the name Chelsea Elizabeth. Manning had since been fighting to get prisoner treatment as a woman, and has petitioned for services that would allow her to continue with her physical transformation, of which the military has said they do not provide.
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