A New York Times report published Monday describes what happens inside the closed hearing rooms where the Pentagon decides whether transgender service members can remain in uniform, and the account centers on a detail with direct health-policy consequences. The deciding evidence is usually a diagnosis in the service member's own medical record.
The boards function like trials. Lawyers present evidence, witnesses testify, and three officers vote. But according to the Times report, summarized by The Advocate, the question before the panel is frequently not whether the person can deploy, lead troops or meet military standards. It is whether their file contains a gender dysphoria diagnosis or documentation of transition-related care.
