Intersex people in the United States military

rdf:langString Intersex people in the United States military

rdf:langString The regulations regarding the service of intersex people in the United States Armed Forces are vague and inconsistent due to the broad nature of humans with intersex conditions. The United States Armed Forces as a whole does not officially ban intersex people from service but does exclude many based on the form of their status. Policies regarding all intersex people are not addressed formally although depending on the type of sex variation some intersex people are allowed to serve. Many, though, are considered to be under the umbrella of being transgender, which the U.S military has previously categorized as a form of disease (psychopathology) that can be applied as a valid cause to bar them from service or remove them from service upon discovery. This can be demonstrated in the Psychosexual Conditions section in the Army Medical Services Standards of Medical Fitness which lists "transsexualism" and "transvestism" next to other "paraphilias" such as voyeurism and exhibitionism. The United States military and their requirements for service makes it so they are frequently in a unique predicament when it comes to intersex bodies. With their position of needing to discern between male and female bodies, they are exposed to a broad variety of people, such as those who are intersex whose bodies may not match either classification and are more difficult to make decisions on. This ambiguity leads to confusion regarding military medical, behavioral, and legal laws.