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US air force: being transgender is no longer grounds for discharge
Source: The Guardian
US air force: being transgender is no longer grounds for discharge
Eviction permissible if condition interferes with duties, statement said
Pentagon still instructs recruiters to reject applicants with gender dysphoria
Ed Pilkington in New York
Friday 5 June 2015 18.54 BST
The US air force is centralizing the way it handles the discharge of transgender personnel from its ranks in a move that forms part of the military’s inching towards a more permissive approach to gender dysphoria.
In a statement published on Thursday, the air force said that among enlisted airmen, there was no outright grounds for discharge for anyone with gender dysphoria or self-identifying as transgender. An individual would only be subject eviction from the air force if his or her condition interfered with their potential deployment or performance on active duty.
“Identification as transgender, absent a record of poor duty performance, misconduct, or a medically disqualifying condition, is not a basis for involuntary separation,” the statement said.
The statement that transgender airmen – the military’s generic term for male and female enlistees – are not liable to being sacked from the forces unless their gender identity conflicts with their performance on the job marks the most progressive language yet from air force chiefs. In the future, senior air force official Daniel Sitterly said, any move to discharge a transgender service member would have to be taken by the central air force review board, providing consistency across all commands.
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Eviction permissible if condition interferes with duties, statement said
Pentagon still instructs recruiters to reject applicants with gender dysphoria
Ed Pilkington in New York
Friday 5 June 2015 18.54 BST
The US air force is centralizing the way it handles the discharge of transgender personnel from its ranks in a move that forms part of the military’s inching towards a more permissive approach to gender dysphoria.
In a statement published on Thursday, the air force said that among enlisted airmen, there was no outright grounds for discharge for anyone with gender dysphoria or self-identifying as transgender. An individual would only be subject eviction from the air force if his or her condition interfered with their potential deployment or performance on active duty.
“Identification as transgender, absent a record of poor duty performance, misconduct, or a medically disqualifying condition, is not a basis for involuntary separation,” the statement said.
The statement that transgender airmen – the military’s generic term for male and female enlistees – are not liable to being sacked from the forces unless their gender identity conflicts with their performance on the job marks the most progressive language yet from air force chiefs. In the future, senior air force official Daniel Sitterly said, any move to discharge a transgender service member would have to be taken by the central air force review board, providing consistency across all commands.
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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/05/us-air-force-transgender-no-discharge
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Did some poking around and found this gem from the AF as well.
Lots of ugly stuff out there but some of this is encouraging.
http://www.amc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123413253
...SR-71? (waving hands). 
