‘No medically valid reason’ to ban trans people from military, says American Medical Association

Leading medical, psychological and military experts have condemned a shocking report produced by Trump officials that claimed transgender troops were “unstable” and not suitable for military service.

In a letter to President Donald Trump’s Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, the American Medical Association (AMA) savaged a report signed off by Mattis earlier this month that set out the case for a ban on transgender soldiers.

The report made a number of spurious claims about why transgender people should be banned from the military, citing transgender people’s “high rates of mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, and substance use disorders” and “extremely high rates of suicidal ideation and other co-morbidities.”

Those claims were rubbished by the American Medical Association in a letter to Mattis.

Soldiers (Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

The body said: “On behalf of the physician and medical student members of the American Medical Association (AMA), I am writing to express our concern about the new policy recently approved by President Trump imposing limits on transgender individuals serving in the military.

“This new policy, based on recommendations you made in February to President Trump, states that ‘transgender persons with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria—individuals who the policies state may require substantial medical treatment, including medications and surgery—are disqualified from military service except under certain limited circumstances.’

“We believe there is no medically valid reason—including a diagnosis of gender dysphoria—to exclude transgender individuals from military service.

“Transgender individuals have served, and continue to serve, our country with honour, and we believe they should be allowed to continue doing so.”

A U.S Marine (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

It added: “We share the concerns [that] the Defense Department’s February 22, 2018, Memorandum for the President mischaracterised and rejected the wide body of peer-reviewed research on the effectiveness of transgender medical care.