[Blog/Commentary] [USA] Pentagon acknowledges transgender veterans

[Stephanie Stevens]

Daily Kos, USA


Mon May 20, 2013 at 04:00 PM PDT

Pentagon acknowledges transgender veterans

by rserven <http://www.dailykos.com/user/rserven> for TransAction
<http://www.dailykos.com/blog/TransAction>


Early in May the Pentagon formally recognized that there are
transgender veterans
<http://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/pentagon-recognizes-transgender-veteran-advocates-see-a-shif>
for the first time. We can only hope that it is the first step to
allowing transpeople to serve openly in the military.

On May 2 transgender veteran and activist Autumn Sandeen received a
short letter from a Navy official:

Per your request the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting
System (DEERS) has been updated to show your gender as female
effective April 12, 2013.

Sandeen has a new military identification card to reflect the change.

The fact that a process exists [to change the gender listed]
indicates that there are people in the Department of Defense who are
aware of the needs of transgender retirees and who are working to see
those needs met. And, in that sense, the significance of this
symbolic act for our broader work and for our goal of open service
becomes I think a little bit more apparent.

--OutServe-SLDN executive director Allyson Robinson

Gay, lesbian and bisexual service members have been able to serve
openly since September, 2011, but transgender people continue to be
discharged if it becomes known they are transgender.

In the past Sandeen worked with the National Center for Transgender
Equality to establish standards to be used by the Department of
Veteran Affairs in addressing transgender issues.

I have now done California, the Veterans Administration, State
Department with a passport, and the Social Security office, I have
changed all of this. The one last place that shows me as male is the
Department of Defense — from being a retiree there.

--Sandeen

Many veterans have their records and benefits maintained by the
Department of Defense through DEERS rather than the VA.

I had heard that it could be done; I had never heard of anybody
actually doing it. So, I went and called up OutServe-SLDN, and told
them, 'OK, what I did with NCTE and checking the system there [in the
Veterans' Affairs Department], trying to find out what the rules are,
what do you want me to try and do to see what … policy is.' And they
said, 'If you can just show us that it can be done.'

--Sandeen

So Sandeen submitted the documentation requested and has now received
notification that the change has been made.

The documentation required to have the DoD change gender is substantial.

1. Changed birth certificate (original or notarized copy)

2. Court order: name change document (original or notarized copy)

3. Notarized letter indicating surgical transition letter

4. Court order: change of gender (original or notarized copy)

5. Copy of updated Social Security Card or notarized copy of
current Social Security Benefits indicating changed name and SSN

6. Copy of driver’s license, state-issued ID card, or passport
with new name and gender indicated

The following additional document is a required document if one
has a spouse that is enrolled in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility
Reporting System (DEERS):

7. Notarized letter from the retired servicemember’s spouse
indicating that he or she understands that after the DOD documents the
gender change they will lose their Tricare coverage.

--Sandeen, LGBT Weekly
<http://lgbtweekly.com/2013/05/16/changing-my-documented-gender-with-the-department-of-defense/>

#7 is, of course, due to DOMA.

To our knowledge, this is the first time that the Department of
Defense has recognized and affirmed a change of gender for anyone
affiliated, in a uniformed capacity — in this case a military retiree.
That alone makes it very significant, not just for this veteran
herself, but for likely thousands of others who can have these
corrections made to their DEERS documents.

--Robinson

By showing you can actually change your gender marker with the
Department of Defense, it shows that the Department of Defense
actually will do that, and if they do that then it’s another stop
toward figuring out a way to have open service for trans people.

Robinson admitted that the decision is limited in scope because "[i]t
does not go back and correct historical records that the Department of
Defense maintains on retirees, but it does correct all documents going
forward, including the ID cards that veterans are issued that allows
them access to the same kinds of military facilities that active-duty
service members have."

When transgender people are inadvertently outed on documents that
don't match … that they become more susceptible to harassment and
discrimination, more likely to face those kinds of responses. In a
broad sense, having documentation that matches one’s day-to-day
presentation of gender is very important.

--Robinson

The limits are still significant. The DoD will not alter the gender
listed on the DD-214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active
Duty), because the Pentagon considers it to be an historical document.

If you have a name, gender, or social security number (SSN) change
after discharge from the military, even if it is court ordered, the
name and gender on your military records will not be changed since
they are historical documents which record facts during the time you
served in the military. If you need a certificate to show your
current name or gender and that you served in the military under
another, you can request such from the National Personnel Records
Center, Military Personnel Records …

--Applicant’s Guide To Applying To The Army Board For Correction
Of Military Records

They're starting with 'you can change your reported gender with
the Department of Defense,' and then [transgender people can] take
that into the next couples of questions: 'Why can't we update our
DD-214s?' and 'Why can’t we serve openly?'

--Sandeen

I would say that it is a very early and very small step in a long
process to achieve our goals here. But, it is significant, as the
earliest steps always are, because it reflects a shift, even if it is
a small one, in the way that transgender people are viewed within the
institution of the United States military.

--Robinson

I'd like to see trans people being able to serve openly, and
that's my end, and I think this is going to be a step to get there.

--Sandeen

Only about half of the states will allow changes in birth
certificates, putting this process out of reach of a substantial
number of transgender veterans.


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http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/05/20/1210444/-Pentagon-acknowledges-transgender-veterans