Some thoughts on DoD trans policy and what current and future soldiers should expect. I’m sorry if I use soldier and service member interchangeably, but please understand that I’m writing this as an active duty soldier.

References: DoD Instruction 1300.28, DTM-16-005, Army Directive 2016-30

Ok, so lets walk through the process. I know what I’m saying is greatly simplified, but I do it for the sake of clarity.

For Case 1: Let’s say you are transgender and have been diagnosed with a history of gender dysphoria. This says that unless you have completed your transition AND have been clinically stable for 18 months you cannot join. If you have had GRS it must be from “a licensed medical provider,” 18 months must have elapsed since the surgery, and you must have no complications or functional limitations.

Ok, you say, I’ll just lie and not tell them I’ve been diagnosed with gender dyshoria and/or done GRS.

DON’T DO THIS. According to DoDI 1332.14 you will be administratively discharged (at the least! You just committed a crime!)

Moving on to case 2: You know you’re trans but have not been formally diagnosed. (Just don’t tell anyone you knew you were trans when you enlisted or you might face discharge.) Great! Enlist away!

BUT, and this is a big but, you might be separated once you come out and are diagnosed with GD. During your first 180 days if the military thinks transitioning will interfere with your training, they can admin sep you. If it’s been longer than 180 days, the commander can still admin separate you from service if they believe it will impact unit readiness.

If you’re at a service academy or doing ROTC, the reg says you must meet accession standards as a prerequisite to graduation and appointment. So, I interpret that as, you need to complete transition 18 months prior to graduating and appointment.

Those apply to first termers (for lack of a better word. Your first contract can be anywhere from 4 to 8 years depending on your MOS).

Let’s say your commander decides not to separate you, or you are diagnosed after your first enlistment.

That brings us to case 3: You come to realize that you are transgender while currently serving, and you have been diagnosed with GD.

Things get a little simpler here. The commander has 90 days to approve your request to transition. You will receive healthcare and

counseling. You will create a transition plan. You will do the plan. When your healthcare provider and commander think your transition is complete, you can changer your gender in DEERS and are then subject to the rules and regs of your preferred gender. Tada! You did it!

But wait, you say, isn’t that a bit too easy?

And I would say yes. The devil is in the details. Allow me to explain further.

Let’s say you are a Female to male. You begin taking Testosterone. You cut your hair to the minimum length. You gain craploads of muscle and strength and are decimating your PT test. But guess what? You’re stuck wearing female uniforms and using female bathrooms and female pronouns until your transition is deemed complete.

For male to female, you run into other problems. You begin taking anti-androgens and estrogen. The suck begins now. You are still stuck with keeping a male regulation haircut. You lose muscle and begin struggling with PT. If you weren’t so great at PT to begin with, it’s gonna get a whole lot harder, trust me. Oh, and you’re also stuck wearing male uniforms and using male bathrooms and male pronouns. But hey, once your transition is done and your gender is changed in DEERS then you can have those female standards applied to you.

You’re probably thinking WTF, how is this remotely fair!? Here’s how they expect to get around the regulations: Exceptions to Policy (ETP for short). Basically, every individual trans person has to request permission to change standards from and through the first General Officer in their chain of command, to the “SCCC for a recommendation to the ASA (M&RA), who will make the decision.” The SCCC is a “service level cell of experts created to provide multi-disciplinary(e.g. medical, legal) advice and assistance to commanders with regard to service by transgender service members and gender transition in the military.”

Simple right? There’s more. “At any time prior to the change of the service member’s gender marker in DEERS, the commander may modify a previously approved approach to, or an ETP associated with, gender transition.”

That leaves a ton of room for the commander to interfere with your transition. E.G. let’s say you get an ETP and are allowed to grow your hair out, but the commander does not approve of your look (because to him you look like a male soldier with long hair.) He can order you to cut your hair because he does not want male soldiers from other units to think it’s ok to have hair that long.

I’ll finish up with the real life experience (RLE). It says you cannot do RLE unless it’s off-duty and away from where you work (away from “a service member’s place of duty” to be more specific). This only applies to people who have not had their DEERS updated.

Those of you who are thinking about joining the military as a way to transition, I would advise against it; especially if you want to

start HRT right away. Nothing happens quickly in the military as far as paperwork and beauracracy are concerned. It could be years from the time you sign the contract to when you start HRT.

I hope this helps yall :)

