Secretary of Defense James Mattis announced "interim guidance" earlier this week that stipulates the federal government will continue to pay for sex-change surgeries for service members at least until March.
For now, military personnel diagnosed with "gender dysphoria," have until March 22, 2018, to get permission for gender-changing surgery. There will be some exceptions for an extension.
"Service members who receive a gender dysphoria diagnosis from a military medical provider will be given treatment for the diagnosed medical condition," Mattis wrote in the directive.
"No new sex reassignment surgical procedures for military personnel will be permitted after March 22, 2018, except as necessary to protect the health of an individual who already has begun a course of treatment to reassign his or her gender," Mattis wrote.
The guidance comes as Mattis continues to mull a permanent policy for transgendered, both for those already in the military and those wanting to join, per President Donald Trump's order last month.
The guidance stands until Feb. 21, 2018, Mattis' deadline for presenting Trump with a permanent policy implementing Trump's transgender ban and the end of the Department of Defense funding "sex reassignment surgical procedures."
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