Transgender Military Personnel in the Post-DADT Repeal Era

• Author: James E. Parco,David A. Levy,Sarah R. Spears
• DOI: 10.1177/0095327X14530112
• Published date: 01 April 2015
• Date: 01 April 2015
• Subject Matter: Special Section: Transgender Issues in the Military

Special Section Article

Transgender Military

Personnel in the

Post-DADT Repeal Era:

A Phenomenological

Study

James E. Parco

1

, David A. Levy

2

,

and Sarah R. Spears

3

Editor’s note: This is the second of three articles in this issue on transgender issues

in the military.

Abstract

This study is the first to systematically inquire into the lives of transgender men and

women currently serving across the branches of the US military in the post-‘‘Don’t

Ask, Don’t Tell’’ (DADT) repeal era. We employed an interview protocol from a

stratified convenience sample (n¼14) of clandestinely serving active duty, guard and

reserve military members from the US Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps

who self-identified as transgender or transsexual. Using phenomenology as a meth-

odological foundation, we present a revelatory case study based on lived experi-

ences from firsthand accounts furthering the collective understanding of gender

dysphoria in a contemporary military context.

Keywords

transgender, LGBT, gender dysphoria, phenomenology, military

1

Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO, USA

2

US Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO, USA

3

American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, Denver, CO, USA

Corresponding Author:

Jim Parco, Department of Economics and Business, 14 E. Cache La Poudre St., Colorado Springs, CO

80903, USA.

Email: jim.parco@coloradocollege.edu

Armed Forces & Society

2015, Vol. 41(2) 221-242

ªThe Author(s) 2014

Reprints and permission:

sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav

DOI: 10.1177/0095327X14530112

afs.sagepub.com

Introduction

The 2011 repeal of the US military’s ban on open homosexuality, commonly known

as ‘‘don’t ask, don’t tell’’ (DADT), has been celebrated as a civil rights milestone for

members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community.

1

How-

ever, very little discussion publicly transpired either before or after DADT repeal

with respect to the rights of members who serve in the US Armed Forces and identify

as transsexual or transgender.

2

Prior to DADT repeal, policy change advocates

focused exclusively on sexual orientation.

3

With the change in the national attitude

toward acceptance of open homosexuality

4

and the military’s own admission that

excluding members on the sole basis of sexual orientation had no merit,

5

allowing

open homosexual service no longer seemed controversial by the majority of

Americans. Yet, LGBT advocacy groups feared that the inclusion of transgender

rights in a single policyplatform would have confounded an otherwiseclear-cut issue

with respect to sexual orientation in the military.

6

Ultimately, the 2010 hallmark

legislation that allowed gay, lesbian, and bisexual service members to serve openly

7

left transgende r service members to c ontinue to serve in a shr oud of secrecy.

8

Once DADT repeal took effect, sexual orientation no longer mattered as a con-

dition for military service and research since then has shown no significant negative

effects with respect to lesbian, gay, and bisexual service members.

9

However, pol-

icies addressing gender identity have remained unchanged.

10

In testimony to the

Senate Armed Services Committee, which served as a primary catalyst for DADT

repeal, the then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, stated:

No matter how I look at the issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we

have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are

in order to defend their fellow citizens. For me, personally, it comes down to integ-

rity—theirs as individuals and ours as an institution.

11

Despite Admiral Mullen’s admonition, repeal legislation only addressed issues of

sexual orientation and remained silent on integrity issues surrounding gender iden-

tity. Service members identifying as a gender that differed from their sex assigned at

birth remained cause for involuntary separation from all military branches of the US

armed services.

12

Recent developments since DADT repeal necessitate a more thorough under-

standing of the plight of transgender men and women serving in the US military.

Specifically, revisions to medical guidelines and the military’s adoption of more

gender-neutral polices that determine one’s fitness to serve make it increasingly

likely that transgender military service will eventually become a topic of national

conversation.

1. Publicationof Diagnosticand Statistical Manualof Mental Disorders (DSM-5),

Fifth Edition. One reason exclusionary policies toward transgender service

members weren’t addressed during DADT repeal was because unlike sexual

222 Armed Forces & Society 41(2)