Transgender Major Alexandra Larsson of the Swedish Armed Forces speaks during a conference entitled 'Perspectives on Transgender Military Service from Around the Globe'
The conference was organized by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Palm Center in Washington
Transgender Major Donna Harding of the Australian Army Nursing Corps speaks alongside Sergeant Lucy Jordan (left) of the Royal New Zealand Air Force
Transgender military personnel from 18 countries who allow them to serve openly, gathered to talk about their experiences
They also discussed at the conference whether the US military could join them
Earlier this year a report found there is 'no compelling medical reason' for U.S. armed forced to ban transgender Americans from serving
About 15,500 transgender personnel are currently serving, nearly all under their birth genders and not transitioning in an appearance-altering way, according to the Williams Institute, a think tank
The ban has existed for several decades and apparently was derived in part from the psychiatric establishment's consensus, since revised, that gender identity issues amounted to a mental disorder
The ban also appears based on the assumption that providing hormone treatment and sex reassignment surgeries would be too difficult, disruptive and expensive
Transgender Major Alexandra Larsson of the Swedish Armed Forces speaks at the conference
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2800742/transgender-military-personnel-18-countries-open-service-allowed-gather-discuss-military-join.html
