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<p>About time!</p>
<p>Debi R-S<br>
</p>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 6/24/2016 4:22 PM, Tom Hansen wrote:<br>
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<blockquote
cite="mid:CF4EA4FB-C99B-44C5-BEEA-C4C5E0E5C64F@moscow.com"
type="cite">
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<div>Courtesy of the <i>Military Times </i>at:</div>
<div><br>
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<div><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/pentagon/2016/06/24/ban-transgender-troops-lifted-july-1/86351716/">http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/pentagon/2016/06/24/ban-transgender-troops-lifted-july-1/86351716/</a></div>
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<div>--------------------------------</div>
<div><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:
helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 32px;
-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">Ban on transgender troops
to be lifted July 1</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br>
</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">WASHINGTON
— The Pentagon plans to announce the repeal of its ban on
transgender service members July 1, a controversial decision
that would end nearly a year of internal wrangling among the
services on how to allow those troops to serve openly,
according to Defense officials.</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br>
</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Top
personnel officials plan to meet as early as Monday to
finalize details of the plan, and Deputy Defense Secretary
Bob Work could sign off on it by Wednesday, according to a
Defense official familiar with the timetable but who spoke
on condition of anonymity because officials were not
authorized to speak publicly about it. Final approval would
come from Defense Secretary Ash Carter, and the announcement
will be on the eve of the Fourth of July weekend.</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br>
</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The
plan would direct each branch of the armed services over a
one-year period to implement new policies affecting
recruiting, housing and uniforms for transgender troops, one
official said.</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br>
</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Carter
announced last year that the ban, which affects a fraction
of the military’s 1.3 million active duty members, would be
lifted unless a review showed that doing so would have
“adverse impact on military effectiveness and readiness.”</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br>
</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">That
phrase raised concerns on Capitol Hill where a key lawmaker
questioned whether an “honest and balanced assessment” could
be made of the effects on “military readiness, morale and
good order and discipline” under Carter’s guidelines for the
review.</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br>
</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Rep. Mac
Thornberry, the Texas Republican who chairs the Armed
Services Committee, called on the Pentagon in a letter last
July to provide a range of information on the impacts of
repealing the ban.</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br>
</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“What
would be the projected cost of changing the transgender
service policy? To what extent would military barracks, ship
berths, gym shower facilities, latrines, and other
facilities have to be modified to accommodate personnel in
various stages of transition and what would be the projected
cost of these modifications?” Thornberry wrote.</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br>
</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He
also asked about how far the Pentagon would go to provide
medical treatment for transgender troops, “including
behavioral health treatment, cross-hormone therapy, voice
therapy, cosmetic or gender reassignment surgery and other
treatments?”</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br>
</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Pentagon
officials responded to Thornberry in September, said Eric
Pahon, a department spokesman. The main focus of the
Pentagon’s review of the policy has been on the effect of
repeal on the military’s readiness to fight, Pahon said.
More details about the review’s findings are expected to be
released soon, he said.</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br>
</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Several
issues relating to repeal of the ban have proven to be
contentious, according to officials familiar with the review
but not authorized to speak publicly about it. One sticking
point has been how long transgender service members would
have to serve before being eligible for medical treatment to
transition to the other gender.</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br>
</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The
Pentagon commissioned a RAND Corp. report on transgender
troops but has not released it. It estimated that there are
fewer than 2,500 transgender service members, 65 of whom
would seek medical treatment each year, according to</span><em
style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The New
York Times</em><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255,
255, 0);">.</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br>
</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The
military disqualifies transgender troops for medical
reasons. The Pentagon has not tracked the number of troops
dismissed under the policy.</span></div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>--------------------------------<br>
<br>
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<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya
'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br>
</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow
Cares"</span></div>
<div><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.moscowcares.com/"
style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font
color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div>
<div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255,
0);">Tom Hansen</span></div>
<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255,
0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div>
</div>
<div> </div>
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<p class="" avgcert""="" color="#000000" align="left">No virus
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Version: 2016.0.7640 / Virus Database: 4604/12486 - Release
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