{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-c03aa079.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-517835be.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='An independent report commissioned by the San Francisco State-based think tank, The Palm Center, has concluded there \u0026quot;is no compelling medical reason\u0026quot; for the U.S. armed forces to prohibit transgender Americans from serving. (March 13)' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54bb8dd8eafeecae125ec8' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54bb8dd8eafeecae125ec8' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nAn independent report commissioned by the San Francisco State-based think tank, The Palm Center, has concluded there \u0026quot;is no compelling medical reason\u0026quot; for the U.S. armed forces to prohibit transgender Americans from serving. (March 13)\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003eFOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: apus007012An independent commission led by a former U.S. surgeon general has concluded there \"is no compelling medical reason\" for the U.S. armed forces to prohibit transgender Americans from serving...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003eFOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: apus007012\u003cbr/\u003eAn independent commission led by a former U.S. surgeon general has concluded there \"is no compelling medical reason\" for the U.S. armed forces to prohibit transgender Americans from serving and that President Barack Obama could lift the decades-old ban without approval from Congress, according to a report being released Thursday.\u003cbr/\u003eThe report said Department of Defense regulations designed to keep transgender people from joining or remaining in the military on the grounds of psychological and physical unfitness are based on outdated beliefs that require thousands of current service members either to leave the service or to forego the medical procedures and other changes that could align their bodies and gender identities.\u003cbr/\u003e\"We determined not only that there is no compelling medical reason for the ban, but also that the ban itself is an expensive, damaging and unfair barrier to health care access for the approximately 15,450 transgender personnel who serve currently in the active, Guard and reserve components,\" said the commission led by Dr. Joycelyn Elders, who served as surgeon general during Bill Clinton's first term as president, and Rear Adm. Alan Steinman, a former chief health and safety director for the Coast Guard.\u003cbr/\u003eThe panel, convened by a think tank at San Francisco State University, said the ban has existed for several decades and apparently was derived in part from the psychiatric establishment's consensus, since revised, that gender identity issues amounted to a mental disorder.\u003cbr/\u003eThe ban also appears based on the assumption that providing hormone treatment and sex reassignment surgeries would be too difficult, disruptive and expensive. But the commission rejected those notions as inconsistent with modern medical practice and the scope of health care services routinely provided to non-transgender military personnel.\u003cbr/\u003eAt least a dozen nations, including Australia, Canada, England and Israel, allow military service by transgender individuals. Transgender rights advocates have been lobbying the Pentagon to revisit the blanket ban in the U.S. since Congress in 2010 repealed the law that barred gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals from openly serving in the military\u003cbr/\u003eThe commission argued that facilitating gender transitions \"would place almost no burden on the military,\" adding that a relatively small number of active and reserve service members would elect to undergo transition-related surgeries and that only a fraction might suffer complications that would prevent them from serving. It estimated that 230 transgender people a year would seek such surgery at an average cost of about $30,000.\u003cbr/\u003eThe commission recommends the president issue an executive order instructing the Department of Defense to amend its regulations so transgender people are no longer automatically barred. The Pentagon then would need to develop rules for assigning service members who are transitioning, said Palm Center Executive Director Aaron Belkin, whose San Francisco State-based think tank commissioned the report.\u003cbr/\u003eThe Palm Center, which previously researched \"don't ask, don't tell,\" is funded in part by a $1.3 million grant from Jennifer Pritzker, a billionaire former Army lieutenant colonel who came out as transgender last year.\u003cbr/\u003eSan Francisco, California - March 12, 2014\u003cbr/\u003e1. Aaron Belkin looks at Palm Center report\u003cbr/\u003e2. SOUNDBITE (English): Aaron Belkin, Executive Director of The Palm Center:\u003cbr/\u003e\"The Pentagon bans transgender troops from serving. If someone is found out to be transgender, they're fired. There's a rationale for the Pentagon's policy. What the commissioners found is that the Pentagon's rationale for firing transgender troops is not based on compelling medical reasons or data.\"\u003cbr/\u003e3. SOUNDBITE (English): Aaron Belkin, Executive Director of The Palm Center:\u003cbr/\u003e\"For instance, part of the rationale is that transgender people are mentally ill but what the commissioners found is that, according to the American Psychological Association, that's just not true. In fact, the APA has revised its understanding of gender non-conformity and no longer considers people who are transgender to be mentally ill. So the Pentagon's rationale is really based on very old science.\"\u003cbr/\u003e4. SOUNDBITE (English): Aaron Belkin, Executive Director of The Palm Center:\u003cbr/\u003e\"It's going to take some leadership from the White House and the Defense Department to chart a course forward. But what we know is that, based on the evidence, the Pentagon doesn't have a reason for discrimination. 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