Are transsexual soldiers allowed in combat situations in the American military?

There may be issues of medical concern, as my understanding is that hormones are required for life, and field treatment of injuries may be confusing because men and women have different internal parts.

The military is barely able to handle homosexuals, they probably aren’t ready for this question, and probably don’t even have instructions or rules on the books for it.

I actually asked this question of a friend of mine who is ftm transsexual and he said basically the same thing as you guys. For him it’s a little different because from the waist down, he is still obviously female, and he is still legally female, but I mostly wonder about those who have completed surgeries and are legally the gender of their choice.

(This is assuming they actually make it into the military which, as @Blackberry pointed out, there probably are not even rules about).

I doubt it simply because of what @JilltheTooth brought up as far as medical concerns. I don’t think its because of the particular body parts but hormone therapies and surgeries would be an expense the military will not take on voluntarily. Any surgery the military provides has to show cause to health. Physical health not mental health. Think of it this way. A young person wants to join the military but they have a heart murmur. Something that can easily be repaired but will take a few months for them to recover to full duty. The military won’t accept this person into the military because the way they would look at it, is why take someone they have to fix and spend money on when there are healthy canidates without health problems. It all comes down to the bottom line.

@Pandora I don’t think the expense of treatment is the main focus in the heart murmur example. It is the logical requirement for someone to be healthy going into combat, which is difficult conditions for a healthy person to begin with. Not only for the individual’s soldiers health, but the other soldiers in his platoon rely on him, on each other, to get through difficult circumstances. The team is only as strong as its weakest member.

@KatawaGrey I want to make sure I understand. So the person you are asking about is born a man, transitioning to a female? Interesting question. My guess is They will have a tough time in the US military. They probably won’t be sure how to treat her.

@JLeslie: I mean any transsexual. All transsexuals who go through surgery are female at some point. The US military prohibits females from entering a combat situation. In an ftm situation, the military could argue that the person was born female and thus cannot be in a combat situation. In a mtf situation, the military could argue that the person is female now and thus cannot be in a combat situation.

@KatawaGrey Yeah, I think the military would not be very tolerant, or amiable, not sure.

The military dislikes anyone who doesn’t fit into a binary – here – so they’re especially against anyone undergoing transition during service or enlisting when openly trans. Gender non-conformism and transsexualism are considered mental and medical disorders and make people, in the eyes of the military, incapable of service but, of course, this isn’t true.

Last I heard, they decided to let female soldiers into combat situations. Because, you know, keeping them out wasn’t stopping them from being in combat anyway. Or maybe they were just talking about it.

I’ve no idea what the rules are in the US but in the UK I think the answer is no, because of the medical concerns. I think women are allowed in combat situations in the UK military.