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1 Gary J. Gates & Jody L. Herman, Transgender Military Service in the United States 1 (2014)

handle is hein.lgbtqwi/tmsus0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Transgender Military Service in the United States by Gary J. Gates and Jody L. Herman May 2014 7 1 V Wiliam Introduction This research brief offers analyses from several data sources to estimate the number of transgender individuals who have served in the US armed forces, including the number who are likely on active duty or serving in the Guard or Reserve forces, and the number who are veterans or retired from Guard or Reserve service. On September 20, 2011, the military policy known as Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) ended, allowing gay, lesbian, and bisexual service members to serve openly. Yet, military medical policies still exclude transgender people from serving openly in the US armed forces.' These medical policies lay out exclusions for what are deemed to be psychosexual disorders, including transsexualism, cross-dressing, or a history of gender transition.2 Therefore, transgender individuals who wish to join the US armed forces are prohibited from doing so if their transgender status is known. Furthermore, those already serving can be medically discharged if suspected of being transgender. Our estimates suggest that approximately 15,500 transgender individuals are serving on active duty or in the Guard or Reserve forces. We also estimate that there are an estimated 134,300 transgender individuals who are veterans or are retired from Guard or Reserve service (see Figure 1). 1 Kerrigan, M.F. 2012. Transgender discrimination in the military: The new Don't Ask Don't Tell. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law 18(3): 500-518.; Harrison-Quintana, J. and Herman, J.L. 2013. Still Serving in Silence: Transgender Service Members and Veterans in the National Transgender Discrimination Survey. LGBTQ Policy Journal at the Harvard Kennedy School, Volume 3, 2012- 2013. 2 Witten, T. M. 2007. Gender identity and the military-Transgender, transsexual, and intersex-identified individuals in the U.S. Armed Forces. Santa Barbara, CA: Palm Center.; Harrison-Quintana and Herman, see note #1. Figure 1. Estimates of military service among transgender adults, by type of service. Transgender Military Service: 149,800 Data and methodology The primary data source for the estimates of transgender military service is the National Transgender Discrimination Survey (NTDS), which was conducted by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the National Center for Transgender Equality.3 This 70-item survey was distributed in cooperation with over 900 organizations across the United States and also was announced through listservs and online communities. It was made available both online and on paper in English and Spanish. The survey was fielded over six months beginning in fall 2008 and resulted in 6,546 valid responses, which is the largest sample of transgender people in the US to date.4 Respondents answered questions about a broad array of topics, including whether they had served in the US armed forces in the following question: 3 The NTDS defined transgender broadly to include those whose gender identity or expression differs from those traditionally associated with their assigned sex at birth. This includes, but is not limited to, those who self-identify as transgender, transsexual, genderqueer, gender non-conforming, and cross-dressers. 4 Grant, J.M. et al. 2011. Injustice at every turn: A report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey. Washington, DC: National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and National Center for Transgender Equality. 1

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