Transgender Military Service: A Guide to Implementation Brynn Tannehill Allyson Dylan Robinson Sue Fulton February, 2015 DRAFT – NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION ©2015, SPARTA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Table of Contents Introduction……………………………………………………………………….……..5 Background……………………………………………………………………….……..6 Chapter 1. Definitions……………………………………………………………...…10 Chapter 2. Medical Readiness and Health Care…………………………………11 Chapter 3. Privacy of Personal Information……………………………………...19 Chapter 4. Recruiting and Accession……………………..…………………...….20 Chapter 5. Recognizing Gender Changes………………………………………...23 Chapter 6. Facilities and Facility Use………………………………………….…..25 Chapter 7. Uniforms, Grooming, and Dress Codes…………………..….……..28 Chapter 8. Physical Fitness Standards…………………………………………...30 Chapter 9. Housing……………………………………………………………….…..32 Chapter 10. Non-Discrimination Policies…………………………………………34 Chapter 11. Leadership Best Practices…………………………………….……..37 Chapter 12. Related Civilian Sector Policies…………………………………….40 Chapter 13. Final Conclusions……………………………………………….…….52 References……………………………………………………………………………..54 Appendix A: Transgender Military Service: Frequently Asked Questions…63 Appendix B: Definitions…………………………………………………………......74 Appendix C: Medical Policies………………………………………………………78 Appendix D: Personal Information Policies………………………………….…..81 Appendix E: Recruiting and Accession Policies…………………………....…..84 Appendix F: Policies for Recognizing Gender Changes……………………....85 Appendix G: Facilities Policies…..………………………………………..……….90 Appendix H: Uniforms, Grooming, and Dress Code Policies…………….…..93 Appendix I: Physical Fitness Standards Policies……………………………….96 2 DRAFT – NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION ©2015, SPARTA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Appendix J: Housing Policies………………………………………………………99 Appendix K: Gender Identity Non-Discrimination Policies……….……….....100 Appendix L: Leadership Best Practices: UK and ADF………………………..105 Appendix M: LASD Transgender Employee Guide…………………………….112 Appendix N: Correspondence with Lt. Don Mueller, LASD…………………..120 Appendix O: United Airlines Employee Manual Excerpt………………….…..123 Appendix P: NCTE Analysis of Pilot Medical Regulations…………………...125 Appendix Q: Workplace Gender Transition in an Embassy Environment…135 Appendix R: Intelligence Community Best Practices for Managers of Transgender Employees…………………………………………………………….141 Abbreviations and Acronyms….…………………………………………………..144 Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………..147 3 DRAFT – NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION ©2015, SPARTA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. About the Authors Brynn Tannehill is originally from Phoenix, Arizona. She graduated from the Naval Academy with a B.S. in computer science in 1997. She earned her Naval Aviator wings in 1999 and flew SH-60B helicopters and P-3C maritime patrol aircraft during three deployments between 2000 and 2004. She served as a campaign analyst while deployed overseas to 5th Fleet Headquarters in Bahrain from 2005 to 2006. In 2008 Tannehill earned a M.S. in Operations Research from the Air Force Institute of Technology and transferred from active duty to the Naval Reserves. That same year, she began working as a senior defense research scientist in private industry. She left the drilling reserves in 2010, and continues in the IRR. Tannehill serves as Director of Advocacy for SPARTA, and on the board of Equality Ohio. She currently lives in Xenia, Ohio with her spouse and their three children. Allyson Dylan Robinson enlisted in the Army in 1989 as a combat medic. She accepted an appointment to West Point the following year and was commissioned as an Air Defense Artillery officer in 1994 after graduating with a degree in physics. She commanded PATRIOT missile units in Europe and the Middle East, served as a senior NATO evaluator, and advised the armed forces of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar. Robinson left active duty in 1999 to follow a call to Christian ministry, leading congregations for nearly a decade and earning a master of divinity degree from Baylor University. After her gender transition, Robinson led internal and external diversity initiatives at the Human Rights Campaign and was the first transgender person to lead a national LGBT organization as executive director of OutServe-SLDN. In 2013 she founded Warrior Poet Strategies, a Washington, D.C. based consulting firm. As SPARTA’s Director of Policy, Robinson represents the organization’s members in Washington. She, her wife of 20 years, and their four children live in D.C.’s Maryland suburbs. Brenda S. (“Sue”) Fulton is a 1980 West Point graduate, part of the first class to admit women. She was commissioned in the Army, served as a platoon leader and company commander in Germany, and was honorably discharged at the rank of Captain. In 2009, she co-founded Knights Out, the organization of LGBT West Point alumni and allies, and a year later became a founding board member of OutServe, the association of actively-serving LGBT military members. Both organizations were active in advocating for the repeal of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. In July 2011 Fulton was appointed by President Obama as the first openly gay member of the West Point Board of Visitors. Fulton currently serves as President of SPARTA, and lives with her wife Penny Gnesin in Asbury Park, NJ. SPARTA is an association of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people who currently serve or have served in the U.S. armed forces and their families. Its mission is to advocate for and support our actively serving LGBT service members, veterans, and their families. As a membership organization, SPARTA exists by and for the LGBT military community. The name SPARTA originated as an acronym for “Servicemembers, Partners, and Allies for Respect and Tolerance for All.” 4 DRAFT – NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION ©2015, SPARTA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Introduction This guide recommends specific steps to implement the inclusion of transgender service members into the United States Armed Forces, based on a detailed review of relevant allied military and US civilian policies and practices. The guide’s military policy analysis is broken down into eleven chapters, which examine those policy areas that must be addressed to facilitate inclusion of transgender service members in the DOD. These sections also include excerpts of interviews with transgender service members in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Conducted between June 2013 and November 2014, these interviews reflect the manner in which our allies have implemented the various aspects of transgender inclusion, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of their respective policies from the perspective of the transgender service member. This guide also examines the policies of certain U.S. civilian analogues to the DOD to further inform the development and implementation of transgender-inclusive policies within DOD. These analogues include civilian police and fire departments, commercial airlines, Department of State (DOS) Foreign Service Officers, and the Intelligence Community (IC). At the end of each chapter, we provide specific policy recommendations for the Department of Defense. Taken together, the Conclusions and Recommendations sections of each chapter provide a roadmap for a comprehensive policy allowing for the effective inclusion of transgender service members in DOD. Appendices include supporting material, as well as a “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQ) document that can serve as a primer on the topic for senior leaders and other decision makers. 5 DRAFT – NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION ©2015, SPARTA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Background Current DOD policy is outdated. Current DOD regulations and policies fail to reflect the most current medical, psychological, and psychiatric understandings of gender identity, resulting in frequent confusion and conflicting guidance for DOD medical and behavioral health personnel. Briefly, DOD regulations view transgender people as medically disqualified for service. The overarching basis for military policy preventing transgender military service is the DOD Instruction 6130.03: Medical Standards for Appointment, Enlistment, or Induction in the Military Services1. This document lists disqualifying conditions which preclude military service, and includes: 14 Female Genitalia f: History of major abnormalities or defects of the genitalia including but not limited to change of sex (P64.5) (CPT 55970, 55980), hermaphroditism, pseudohermaphroditism, or pure gonadal dysgenesis (752.7). 15 Male Genitalia f: History of major abnormalities or defects of the genitalia including but not limited to change of sex (P64.5) (CPT 55970, 55980), hermaphroditism, pseudohermaphroditism, or pure gonadal dysgenesis (752.7). 29.r: Current or history of psychosexual conditions (302) including but not limited to transexualism (sic), exhibitionism, transvestitism, voyeurism, and other paraphilias. The language used in the regulations above includes terms which are medically archaic (hermaphroditism, transsexualism), or represent outdated classifications (gender dysphoria is not classified as a paraphilia). The language on transgender phenomena in DODI 6130.03 is based on information in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) III of the American Psychiatric Association. The DSM-III was released in 1980 and has been superseded four times since then. In recent years, America’s foremost medical and psychological professional organizations have adopted positions opposing discrimination against transgender individuals, including the withholding of medically necessary care.2 In May 2013,