[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 373 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 373

To provide for the retention and service of transgender individuals in 
                           the Armed Forces.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 7, 2019

Mrs. Gillibrand (for herself, Ms. Collins, and Mr. Reed) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                             Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide for the retention and service of transgender individuals in 
                           the Armed Forces.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. RETENTION AND SERVICE OF TRANSGENDER INDIVIDUALS IN THE 
              ARMED FORCES.

    (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) individuals who are qualified and can meet the 
        standards to serve in the military should be eligible to serve; 
        and
            (2) the policies recommended in the memorandum of the 
        Secretary of Defense entitled ``Military Service by Transgender 
        Individuals'' and dated February 22, 2018, are inconsistent 
        with this goal.
    (b) Retention of Currently Serving Members of the Armed Forces.--An 
individual serving as a member of the Armed Forces on or after the date 
of the enactment of this Act may not be involuntarily separated from 
the Armed Forces, or denied reenlistment or continuation in service in 
the Armed Forces, solely on the basis of the member's gender identity. 
Nothing in this subsection relieves a member from meeting applicable 
military and medical standards, including deployability, or requires 
retention of the member in service if the member fails to meet such 
standards.
    (c) Accession Into the Armed Forces.--On or after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, an individual may not be denied initial 
enlistment, commissioning, or other accession into the Armed Forces 
solely on the basis of the individual's gender identity. Nothing in 
this subsection relieves an individual from meeting applicable military 
and medical standards, including deployability, for enlistment, 
commissioning, or other accession.
    (d) Gender Identity Defined.--In this section, the term ``gender 
identity'' means the gender-related identity, appearance, mannerisms, 
or other gender-related characteristics of an individual, regardless of 
the individual's designated sex at birth.
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