The newest issue of OutServe, a magazine by and for LGBT members of the armed forces, includes substantial coverage of transgender service members.

The Metro Weekly article linked above includes a pretty long interview with one of the subjects of the main story - Bryan, a self-identified trans man who serves in the military - and explains from a very personal level the challenges of being trans* in the military. 

Though Don’t Ask Don’t Tell has been repealed and LGB people can now serve openly, there still exist a number of complications for trans* people. From the story:

Transgender service is not allowed, Bryan says, for two reasons. ”You can’t be transgender and in the military because it’s considered a medical disqualification on the basis of the hormones and the surgery. They just assume trans people have ‘the surgery.’ And then, there’s a psychological disqualification because they see it as having gender identity disorder.

“Even if you haven’t been formally diagnosed with gender identity disorder, if they find out that you’re cross-dressing or that you identify as trans in any way, they can discharge you under the basis of gender identity disorder.”

OutServe is only available in print in a few select places, but its website is a wealth of information. This publication is doing great work highlighting places where we’ve made progress, but we still have a long, long way to go.