Pentagon ends ban on transgender troops in military

The Pentagon has announced that it will let transgender individuals serve openly in the U.S. military, ending one of the last bans on service in the armed forces.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced the change Thursday, saying it was the right thing to do. He said at a press conference that only a person's qualifications should matter, and that there should be no other unrelated barriers to service.

Carter's announcement comes despite concerns from senior military leaders that the department is moving too fast and that more time is needed to work through the changes.

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Last summer, the American Medical Association adopted a policy that said that there is no "medically valid reason" to prohibit transgender individuals from serving in the military. The policy is meant to help "modify" the Department of Defense guidelines that previously banned transgender individuals from military service and made it impossible for currently serving transgender members to obtain appropriate healthcare.

There are more than 15,000 transgender people in the U.S. military, according to the AMA. They previously risked discharge if they served openly or their gender identity was made public.

A month after the AMA's report, Carter announced the formation of a working group that would spend months determining how transgender military members could be integrated. 

"At a time when our troops have learned from experience that the most important qualification for service members should be whether they're able and willing to do their job, our officers and enlisted personnel are faced with certain rules that tell them the opposite," Carter said at the time.

"Moreover, we have transgender soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines — real, patriotic Americans — who I know are being hurt by an outdated, confusing, inconsistent approach that's contrary to our value of service and individual merit."

The changes will be phased in over a year. But by Oct. 1, transgender troops should be able to receive medical care and begin formally changing their gender identification in the Pentagon's personnel system.

Additional reporting by Mashable.

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