(StraightNews.org) – A Department of Defense (DoD) memo reveals that transgender soldiers can opt out of deployments if they are undergoing hormone therapy. The leaked memo, sourced from the Womack Army Medical Center (WAMC) at Fort Liberty in North Carolina, states that service personnel “will require up to 300 days to be stabilized on cross-sex hormone therapy, and they will remain in a non-deployable status during that time.”
The document also outlines the medical procedures trans soldiers are entitled to receive on the taxpayers’ dime. These include “top” and “bottom” surgeries – meaning the removal of breasts from women or external genitalia from men.
Overall, trans personnel are entitled to between 9 and 18 months of leave to complete their transition, and during that time, they can use “self-identified gender standards for uniform, grooming, fitness testing, as well as self-identified gender billeting, bathroom, and shower facilities.”
The revelations will likely prompt further criticisms that the US military has become too “woke.” The Conservative Heritage Foundation says “wokeness” among the armed forces is causing distrust and weakening America’s military preparedness. “Woke” ideology risks undermining authority by raising questions about “whether a promotion is based on merit or quota requirements. It leads to military personnel serving in specialties and areas for which they are not qualified or ready,” the Foundation claims.
Transgenderism in the military is particularly thorny and has been back and forth over the past two administrations. In 2017, President Trump banned trans people from serving in the military, prompting an outcry from Democrats. Trump said US forces should not carry the cost of medical treatment or risk potential disruption.
Among his first acts upon taking office, Biden reversed the Trump policy. Then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the DoD would take immediate steps to ensure not only that trans people could join up but they could serve as their “chosen” rather than biological gender.
The number of transgender people currently serving is unclear, but in 2019, the figure hovered around 9,000.
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