US ranks low in first-ever global index of LGBT inclusion in armed forces

The enduring ban on transgender individuals serving in the US military has earned America a low ranking in the first global league table of LGBT inclusion in the armed forces.

The US is placed at number 40 in the table of 103 countries’ armed forces as measured by their inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender service members. That puts it behind the militaries of countries such as Chile, Georgia and even America’s bête noire, Cuba.

The US armed forces in September 2011 repealed the controversial policy of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, which forced gay service members to hide their sexuality. The federal government has followed up in recent months by extending equal benefits to same-sex married couples in the military after the Defense of Marriage Act was ruled unconstitutional by the US supreme court last June.

But despite these dramatic strides towards acceptance, the less widely publicized ban on the service of transgender people has pushed the US well down the league table. The rankings were put together by the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies, an independent research group, at the request of the Dutch ministry of defence as a way of marking the 40th anniversary of the Netherlands becoming the first military in the world to allow LGBT individuals to serve openly in the armed forces.

“There have been big steps since don’t ask, don’t tell and the repeal of Doma,” said Joshua Polchar, who helped produce the centre’s LGBT in the armed forces index. “But the headline story is that the US continues to lag behind on the transgender issue.”

Polchar added that the question of how military services around the world deal with LGBT issues was not purely a question of human rights. “This is also about military effectiveness, as an inclusive and respectful culture benefits straight people, LGBT people and the armed forces as a whole.”

The department of defence (DOD) states that anyone must be rejected for military service if they have a “current or history” of “transsexualism, exhibitionism, transvestism, voyeurism and other paraphilias” which it defines as “psychosexual conditions”. In a separate section of its medical instructions, the DOD says that a “history of major abnormalities or defects of the genitalia including but not limited to change of sex” is also a reason for rejection.

“DOD regulations don’t allow transgender individuals to serve in the US military, based upon medical standards for military service,” confirmed lieutenant commander Nate Christensen, a defense department spokesman.

The ban on transgender service members contrasts starkly with other countries. New Zealand, the most progressive nation in the world according to the league table, allows transgender people to serve openly, as do the Netherlands and the UK ranked joint second.

Australia, ranked number five, distributes a handbook called Transitioning Gender in the Air Force. It is also the only military in the world to offer the option of individuals defining their gender as other than the “either-or” distinction of male or female.

America’s relatively low ranking was not purely because of its position on transgender issues. The centre also took into account the military law against “sodomy” that still remains on the books and the fact that the DOD does not recognize or support LGBT networks within the military.

Brynn Tannehill flew SH-60B helicopters and P-3C maritime patrol aircraft as a US naval aviator in the course of three deployments between 2000 and 2004, transferring from active duty to the naval reserves in 2008. But when she decided to transition gender, and aware of the lack of tolerance, she quit the reserves in 2010.

She said that given the end of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and the cultural shift that was sweeping the US over gay marriage, there was a sense of positive movement in the military. “But there’s a lot more that could still be done – this is a policy problem caused by a medical regulation that can be changed.”

Tannehill has joined the LGBT military community Spart*a, which has about 170 transgender members. She said that the experiences of those people varied greatly.

One person who was transitioning to be male had received support from his commanding officer who told him: “We’ll just treat you as some sort of super-lesbian and leave it like that.” Others, though, have suffered verbal abuse, seen their medical records leaked and endured other forms of harassment. Tannehill estimates that about 75% of transgender service members remain entirely in the closet to everybody associated with the military.

A full report based on the LGBT military index will be published by the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies in May.