A new report from a commission led by a former U.S. surgeon general is calling on President Obama to lift the ban on transgender individuals serving in the military, arguing there “is no compelling medical reason” for the prohibition. The report claims the Pentagon's regulations barring transgender people on the basis of psychological and physical unfitness come from obsolete beliefs. "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. Jocelyn Elders, who was Bill Clinton's surgeon general. The commission said it believes that the ban stems from the psychiatric community's prior consensus that gender-identity issues were mental disorders.
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