Pushed To The Back Burner

We have been promised that the military will be integrated this spring for trans service members; well…

The Military’s Transgender Policy, Stalled
New York Times
By The Editorial Board
April 6, 2016

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced last July that the Pentagon intended to allow transgender people to serve openly in the military within six months, calling the decades-long ban “outdated” and an impediment to attracting and retaining top talent.

More than eight months later, a new policy has yet to be unveiled. It is imperative that Mr. Carter complete this process in a matter of weeks so transgender troops can start serving openly while he is in office.
[…]
A task force Mr. Carter convened last year to establish an inclusive policy has drafted regulations addressing how the Defense Department should handle cases of service members who transition after joining the military. But questions remain. Some officials have recommended that transgender troops who transition soon after enlisting should be discharged, but have given no legitimate reasons for this proposal. In any case, such an approach would be discriminatory. There is also some debate over the criteria to use in evaluating whether people who are undergoing transition-related medical treatment are fit for duty.

It seems to me that other nations have tackled this already and I don’t see why we can’t integrate the military.

Once a new policy is announced, the military services are likely to ask for a period to educate the force before it is put into effect. This should be done as quickly as possible. If the changes are not made expeditiously, Mr. Carter runs the risk of leaving office with an unfulfilled promise to a small, but important, segment of Americans who want to continue serving their country honorably.

That would be unfair to them, squander investments the military has made in highly skilled personnel and tarnish the legacy of a defense secretary who has done much to make the Pentagon a more inclusive and attractive employer.

Just do it!