GOLDBERG, THE NEW DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL, VOICES IN BIOETHICS, VOL. 1 (2014-15) 

 

 

© 2014 Madeline Goldberg. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the 
Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and 
reproduction, provided the original author and source are credited. 

 

The New Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell 

 

Madeline Goldberg 

 

Keywords: bioethics, ethics, transgender, army 

INTRODUCTION 
 

In the wake of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” laws that were passed by Congress and later repealed, a new story is emerging of 

unjust discrimination against transgender troops.  Unlike Canada, Australia, England and Israel, the United States bans 

transgender individuals from serving in the U.S. Army.  This ban is found in Department of Defense regulations, which 

suggest that transgender individuals are medically unfit to serve in the U.S. Army.  Recently, a San Francisco think tank 

published a report that criticizes the military’s transgender ban and calls for President Barack Obama to bypass Congress 

and lift the ban through an executive order. 

For more information on the think tank report see: 

Transgender Military Service Repot 

http://www.palmcenter.org/files/Transgender%20Military%20Service%20Report.pdf 

Panel Urges End to US Ban on Transgender Troops 

http://www.wdam.com/story/24963555/panel-urges-end-to-us-ban-on-transgender-troop  

 

____________________________________________________________ 

  

http://www.palmcenter.org/files/Transgender%20Military%20Service%20Report.pdf
http://www.wdam.com/story/24963555/panel-urges-end-to-us-ban-on-transgender-troop


 

GOLDBERG, THE NEW DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL, VOICES IN BIOETHICS, VOL. 1 (2014-15) 

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REFERENCES 
 

Further Reading on Transgender Health Issues: 

 

About a Boy.  Transgender surgery at sixteen. 

 

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/03/18/130318fa_fact_talbot?currentPage=all 

 

College Health Plans Respond as Transgender Students Gain Visibility 

 

          http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/education/12sexchange.html?_r=0