Medical association blasts military's transgender policy

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Medical association blasts military’s transgender policy

By JULIE WATSON and DAVID CRARY
April 11, 2019

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A Trump administration regulation set to go into effect Friday bars transgender people from the military unless they “correct those deficiencies,” a description the American Medical Association said Thursday is unfair and defies science.

The AMA told The Associated Press on Thursday the policy and its wording mischaracterizes transgender people as having a “deficiency.” It said it also objects to the Defense Department classifying the need to transition to another gender among “administratively disqualifying conditions” that include those the Pentagon has labeled as “congenital or developmental defects.”

The new regulation strips transgender troops of rights they only recently secured under the Obama administration to serve openly and receive care if they choose to transition to another gender.

The Defense Department said its use of the words “deficiencies” is military lingo for when an individual fails to meet standards to maintain a lethal force. It is not a reference to gender dysphoria, a condition of extreme distress from not identifying with one’s biological gender, Lt. Col. Carla Gleason said.

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“The only thing deficient is any medical science behind this decision,” American Medical Association President Dr. Barbara L. McAneny said.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/1fc57258d8e14bfcbf3590f6ef844741

[Initech]

1. I can't emphasize enough how much I utterly, truly despise the Christian right.

And today is definitely a huge reason why. Fuck them.