Battleland

Gays and Lesbians, OK. Transgender Folks, Wait Your Turn

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The non-news that is the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” continues in a new Congressional Research Service report obtained by Battleland. The bar against openly gay men and women serving in the military has gone so smoothly, it seems like the good scholars at CRS have too look for controversy:

The repeal of the ban on homosexual behavior has encouraged some to expand efforts to end discrimination against transgender individuals. Based on military fitness policies, individuals who have a history of mental disorders that, in the opinion of the medical examiner, would interfere with or prevent satisfactory performance of military duties are not allowed to serve. Among the disorders cited are “sexual and gender identity disorders”…At one time, homosexuality was listed as a psychiatric disorder, but this was removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) in 1973.

That suggests, assuming past is prologue, it’ll take until 2049 for the ban on transgender individuals to be lifted. Not that they seem to be in much of a rush: their website doesn’t appear to have been updated in nearly two years.