News and Events => Opinions & Editorials => Topic started by: Shana A on August 25, 2012, 08:41:54 AM Return to Full Version
Title: For Transgender Veterans, An Awkward ID Problem Awaits Simple Fix
Post by: Shana A on August 25, 2012, 08:41:54 AM
Post by: Shana A on August 25, 2012, 08:41:54 AM
Jennifer Bendery
For Transgender Veterans, An Awkward ID Problem Awaits Simple Fix
Posted: 08/24/2012 6:51 pm Updated: 08/24/2012 8:19 pm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/24/transgender-veterans_n_1828459.html (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/24/transgender-veterans_n_1828459.html)
WASHINGTON -- There aren't many transgender U.S. military veterans. Advocacy groups estimate the number may be somewhere around 300,000 out of the nation's 26 million vets. But nearly all will struggle to access military benefits because of an awkward bureaucratic snafu that could be easily fixed: their discharge papers show the wrong gender.
Bridget Wilson, an attorney who has represented transgender people in military and civil matters for 20 years, said if there's one thing she sees over and over again with her clients, it is complications stemming from their DD214 form, better known as the document that soldiers receive upon retirement or discharge from the military.
"You have to produce it for almost everything you do in life," Wilson told The Huffington Post.
[...]
The problem for transgender vets, who typically transition to the opposite gender after leaving the military, is that their name and gender no longer match what appears on the form. And since the Defense Department treats the document as "a historical record," military officials aren't allowed to change its information, which means transgender vets routinely get turned down for services.
For Transgender Veterans, An Awkward ID Problem Awaits Simple Fix
Posted: 08/24/2012 6:51 pm Updated: 08/24/2012 8:19 pm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/24/transgender-veterans_n_1828459.html (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/24/transgender-veterans_n_1828459.html)
WASHINGTON -- There aren't many transgender U.S. military veterans. Advocacy groups estimate the number may be somewhere around 300,000 out of the nation's 26 million vets. But nearly all will struggle to access military benefits because of an awkward bureaucratic snafu that could be easily fixed: their discharge papers show the wrong gender.
Bridget Wilson, an attorney who has represented transgender people in military and civil matters for 20 years, said if there's one thing she sees over and over again with her clients, it is complications stemming from their DD214 form, better known as the document that soldiers receive upon retirement or discharge from the military.
"You have to produce it for almost everything you do in life," Wilson told The Huffington Post.
[...]
The problem for transgender vets, who typically transition to the opposite gender after leaving the military, is that their name and gender no longer match what appears on the form. And since the Defense Department treats the document as "a historical record," military officials aren't allowed to change its information, which means transgender vets routinely get turned down for services.
Title: Re: For Transgender Veterans, An Awkward ID Problem Awaits Simple Fix
Post by: Shantel on August 25, 2012, 01:14:48 PM
Post by: Shantel on August 25, 2012, 01:14:48 PM
I'm a post-op transgendered veteran and I know several more all of who get full coverage under the VA system including free visits to the endocrinologist and hormones including the rest of the healthcare services. They will not do SRS or any type gender alteration however.