Transgender policy in the Australian Defence Force : Medicalization and its discontents

Journal article

Riseman, Noah. (2016). Transgender policy in the Australian Defence Force : Medicalization and its discontents. International Journal of Transgenderism. 17(3-4), pp. 141-154. https://doi.org/10.1080/15532739.2016.1227759
AuthorsRiseman, Noah
Abstract

In 2010, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) repealed a Defence Instruction that had effectively barred transgender people from serving. Transgender personnel have slowly been coming out since 2010, positioning Australia as an international leader in terms of recognizing the contribution that transgender and gender diverse people can make to military institutions. Yet ADF documents, media reports, and the testimonies of transgender personnel, past and present, suggest a more complex picture of evolving ADF policies toward transgender personnel. This article traces the history of ADF policies toward transgender service and focuses on the medical frameworks deployed. Repealing the ban on transgender service in 2010 left what was essentially a policy vacuum, and gradually medical regulations have filled that void. Medicalized understandings of gender dysphoria (as distinct from transgender identity) had the potential to support transgender personnel through health benefits not available to civilian Australians. Yet as policies evolved, the ADF developed directives around particular treatments for gender dysphoria, adopting subjective time frames and medical downgrades and restricting transition options. So while ADF rhetoric has emphasized diversity and transgender (among LGBTI) inclusion within the ADF, gradually the medicalized approach to transgenderism has disempowered and restricted transgender service members' opportunities.

Year2016
JournalInternational Journal of Transgenderism
Journal citation17 (3-4), pp. 141-154
PublisherRoutledge
ISSN1434-4599
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/15532739.2016.1227759
Scopus EID2-s2.0-84988589020
Open accessPublished as green open access
Research or scholarlyResearch
Page range141-154
Research GroupSchool of Arts
Author's accepted manuscript
License
All rights reserved
File Access Level
Open
Publisher's version
License
All rights reserved
File Access Level
Controlled
Additional information

This record includes an authors accepted manuscript. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Transgenderism on 23 September 2016, available online:http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/15532739.2016.1227759

Place of publicationUnited States of America
Permalink -

https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/8528y/transgender-policy-in-the-australian-defence-force-medicalization-and-its-discontents

Log in to edit

Download files

Author's accepted manuscript
AM_Riseman_2016_Transgender_policy_in_the_Australian_Defence.pdf
License: All rights reserved
File access level: Open

Restricted files

Publisher's version

  • 1731
    total views
  • 1816
    total downloads
  • 14
    views this month
  • 10
    downloads this month
These values are for the period from 19th October 2020, when this repository was created.

Export as

Related outputs

Transgender Australia : A History since 1910
Riseman, Noah Jed. (2023). Transgender Australia : A History since 1910 Melbourne University Press.
Speaking out against anti-trans violence : a call for justice
Riseman, Noah Jed. (2023). Speaking out against anti-trans violence : a call for justice Australia: Special Commission of Inquiry into LGBTIQ hate crimes.
New South Wales trans history
Riseman, Noah. (2022). New South Wales trans history Australia: The Gender Centre.
A history of trans health care in Australia : A report for the Australian Professional Association for Trans Health (AusPATH)
Riseman, Noah. (2022). A history of trans health care in Australia : A report for the Australian Professional Association for Trans Health (AusPATH) Australia: Australian Professional Association for Trans Health (AusPATH).
Transgender activism and anti-discrimination reform in 1990s New South Wales and Victoria
Riseman, Noah. (2022). Transgender activism and anti-discrimination reform in 1990s New South Wales and Victoria. Journal of Australian Studies. 46(3), p. 321–338. https://doi.org/10.1080/14443058.2022.2078858
A history of transgender women in Australian Sports, 1976–2017
Riseman, Noah. (2022). A history of transgender women in Australian Sports, 1976–2017. Sport in History. 42(2), pp. 280-307. https://doi.org/10.1080/17460263.2021.1938194
Finding "evidence of me" through "evidence of us" : Transgender oral histories and personal archives speak
Riseman, Noah. (2022). Finding "evidence of me" through "evidence of us" : Transgender oral histories and personal archives speak. In In Summerskill, Clare, Tooth Murphy, Amy and Vickers, Emma (Ed.). New directions in queer oral history : Archives of disruption pp. 59-70 Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003092032-7
The Royal Australian Navy and courts martial for homosexuality
Riseman, Noah. (2021). The Royal Australian Navy and courts martial for homosexuality. International Journal of Military History and Historiography. 42, pp. 46-69. https://doi.org/10.1163/24683302-bja10020
Victoria's transgender history
Riseman, Noah. (2021). Victoria's transgender history Australia: Transgender Victoria.
Transgender Australians : The history of an identity
Riseman, Noah Jed. (2021). Transgender Australians : The history of an identity. Oral History. 49(2), pp. 30-31.
Representing transgender in the 1970s Australian media
Riseman, Noah. (2021). Representing transgender in the 1970s Australian media. Gender and History. 33(1), pp. 227-248. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0424.12510
Pride in defence : The Australian military and LGBTI service since 1945
Riseman, Noah and Robinson, Shirleene. (2020). Pride in defence : The Australian military and LGBTI service since 1945 Melbourne University Press.
How my COVID-19 disruption became my privileged boom time
Riseman, Noah. (2020). How my COVID-19 disruption became my privileged boom time. Portal: Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies. 17(1/2), pp. 73-78. https://doi.org/10.5130/pjmis.v17i1-2.7491
Searching for trans possibilities in Australia, 1910–39
Riseman, Noah. (2020). Searching for trans possibilities in Australia, 1910–39. Journal of Australian Studies. 44(1), pp. 33-47. https://doi.org/10.1080/14443058.2020.1712614
Intimatopias and the queering of Australian war fiction
Riseman, Noah. (2020). Intimatopias and the queering of Australian war fiction. Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies. 35(6), pp. 940-954. https://doi.org/10.1080/10304312.2020.1827371
Niue and the Great War
Noah Riseman. (2020). Niue and the Great War. The Journal of Pacific History. 55(2), pp. 311-312. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223344.2019.1655825
Volunteers with a legal impediment : Australian national service and the question of overseas service in Vietnam
Morris, Ben and Riseman, Noah. (2019). Volunteers with a legal impediment : Australian national service and the question of overseas service in Vietnam. History Australia. 16(2), pp. 266-286. https://doi.org/10.1080/14490854.2019.1590151
Australia's history of LGBTI politics and rights
Riseman, Noah. (2019). Australia's history of LGBTI politics and rights. In In Thompson, William R. (Ed.). Oxford research encyclopedia of politics pp. 1-24 Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1260.
The Interview-Document Nexus: Recovering Histories of LGBTI Military Service in Australia
Riseman, N.. (2019). The Interview-Document Nexus: Recovering Histories of LGBTI Military Service in Australia. Archivaria. 87(May), pp. 6-33.
Hunting gays and lesbians in the Australian Defence Force, 1974–1992
Riseman, Noah. (2019). Hunting gays and lesbians in the Australian Defence Force, 1974–1992. Journal of the History of Sexuality. 28(3), pp. 325-356. https://doi.org/10.7560/JHS28301
The Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives (ALGA)
Riseman, Noah. (2019). The Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives (ALGA). History Australia. 16(3), pp. 549-552. https://doi.org/10.1080/14490854.2019.1636678
Vietnam War, LGBTQ+ Veterans
Riseman, Noah Jed. (2019). Vietnam War, LGBTQ+ Veterans. In In H. Chiang, A. Arondekar and M. Epprecht et al (Ed.). The Global Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) History pp. 1708 - 1710 Charles Scribner's Sons.
Transgender inclusion and Australia's failed Sexuality Discrimination Bill
Riseman, Noah. (2019). Transgender inclusion and Australia's failed Sexuality Discrimination Bill. Australian Journal of Politics and History. 65(2), pp. 259 - 277. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajph.12568
Indigenous peoples and the Second World War: The politics, experiences and legacies of war in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand
Sheffield, R. Scott and Riseman, Noah. (2019). Indigenous peoples and the Second World War: The politics, experiences and legacies of war in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108341172
Serving in silence? Australian LGBTI military service since World War II
Riseman, Noah, Robinson, Shirleene and Willett, Graham. (2018). Serving in silence? Australian LGBTI military service since World War II [Exhibition]. Tap Gallery, Surry Hills, NSW, Australia 27 Feb 2018
Ex-service activism after 1945
Riseman, Noah. (2018). Ex-service activism after 1945. In In J. Beaumont and A. Cazow (Ed.). Serving our country: Indigenous Australians, war, defence and citizenship pp. 261 - 281 NewSouth Publishing.
Activism and Australia's ban on gay, lesbian and bisexual military service in the 1970s–80s
Riseman, Noah. (2018). Activism and Australia's ban on gay, lesbian and bisexual military service in the 1970s–80s. Australian Feminist Studies. 33(95), pp. 147 - 163. https://doi.org/10.1080/08164649.2018.1498728
From witch-hunts to pride balls: the ADF and LGBTI service personnel
Riseman, Noah. (2018). From witch-hunts to pride balls: the ADF and LGBTI service personnel. In In T. Moss and T. Richardson (Ed.). Beyond Combat: Australian Military Activity Away from the Battlefield pp. 29 - 44 NewSouth Publishing.
Serving in silence? Australian LGBT servicemen and women
Riseman, Noah, Robinson, Shirleene and Willett, Graham. (2018). Serving in silence? Australian LGBT servicemen and women NewSouth Publishing.
Describing misbehaviour in Vung Tau as ‘mischief’ is ridiculously coy”: Ethnographic refusal, reticence, and the oral historian’s dilemma
Riseman, Noah. (2018). Describing misbehaviour in Vung Tau as ‘mischief’ is ridiculously coy”: Ethnographic refusal, reticence, and the oral historian’s dilemma. The Oral History Review. 45(1), pp. 84 - 100. https://doi.org/10.1093/ohr/ohx072
Gay and Lesbian, Then & Now [book review]
Riseman, Noah. (2018). Gay and Lesbian, Then & Now [book review]. Lilith: A Feminist History Journal. 24, pp. 65 - 66.
Opening the military door, 1945-65
Riseman, Noah. (2018). Opening the military door, 1945-65. In In J. Beaumont and A. Cadzow (Ed.). Serving our country: Indigenous Australians, War, Defence and Citizenship pp. 196 - 214 NewSouth Publishing.
The Vietnam War
Riseman, Noah. (2018). The Vietnam War. In In J. Beaumont and A. Cazow (Ed.). Serving our country: Indigenous Australians, war, defence and citizenship pp. 215 - 238 NewSouth Publishing.
Opening the military door, 1945-65
Riseman, Noah. (2018). Opening the military door, 1945-65. In In J. Beaumont and A. Cazow (Ed.). Serving our country: Indigenous Australians, war, defence and citizenship pp. 196 - 214 NewSouth Publishing.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander military service in the Second World War
Riseman, Noah. (2018). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander military service in the Second World War. Journal of Military and Strategic Studies. 19(2), pp. 137 - 156.
Serving in silence? Australian LGBTI military service since World War II
Riseman, Noah, Robinson, Shirleene and Willett, Graham. (2018). Serving in silence? Australian LGBTI military service since World War II [Exhibition]. The Gallery, City Library, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 11 Jan - 03 Feb 2018
Introduction: Brothers and sisters in arms
Riseman, Noah. (2017). Introduction: Brothers and sisters in arms. Wicazo Sa Review: a journal of Native American studies. 32(1), pp. 5 - 8. https://doi.org/10.5749/wicazosareview.32.1.0005
‘Just another start to the denigration of Anzac Day’ : Evolving commemorations of Australian LGBTI military service
Riseman, Noah J.. (2017). ‘Just another start to the denigration of Anzac Day’ : Evolving commemorations of Australian LGBTI military service. Australian Historical Studies. 48(1), pp. 35-51. https://doi.org/10.1080/1031461X.2016.1251476
Evolving commemorations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander military service
Riseman, Noah. (2017). Evolving commemorations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander military service. Wicazo Sa Review: a journal of Native American studies. 32(1), pp. 80 - 101.
In defence of country: Life stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander servicemen & women
Riseman, Noah Jed. (2016). In defence of country: Life stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander servicemen & women ANU Press. https://doi.org/10.22459/IDC.01.2016
Between the Wars
Riseman, Noah. (2016). Between the Wars. Wartime (print). 76, pp. 38 - 43.
Elite indigenous masculinity in textual representations of Aboriginal service in the Vietnam War
Riseman, Noah. (2016). Elite indigenous masculinity in textual representations of Aboriginal service in the Vietnam War. Journal of Australian Studies. 40(1), pp. 32-44. https://doi.org/10.1080/14443058.2015.1110615
Defending country: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander military service since 1945
Riseman, Noah Jed and Trembath, Richard. (2016). Defending country: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander military service since 1945 University of Queensland Press.
'Homosex' in wartime
Riseman, Noah. (2016). 'Homosex' in wartime. History Australia. 13(2), pp. 306 - 307. https://doi.org/10.1080/14490854.2016.1186142
Indigenous soldiers: Native American and Aboriginal Australian service in Vietnam
Riseman, Noah. (2015). Indigenous soldiers: Native American and Aboriginal Australian service in Vietnam. In In N. H. Chau Nguyen (Ed.). New perceptions of the Vietnam War: Essays on the War, the South Vietnamese experience, the diaspora and the continuing impact pp. 203 - 228 McFarland & Company Inc..
Outmanoeuvring Defence : The Australian debates over gay and lesbian military service, 1992
Riseman, Noah. (2015). Outmanoeuvring Defence : The Australian debates over gay and lesbian military service, 1992. Australian Journal of Politics and History. 61(4), pp. 562-575. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajph.12119
Introduction: Diversifying the black diggers' histories
Riseman, Noah. (2015). Introduction: Diversifying the black diggers' histories. Aboriginal History. 39, pp. 137 - 142.
Making Change Happen: Black and White Activists Talk to Kevin Cook about Aboriginal, Union and Liberation Politics (review)
Riseman, Noah. (2015). Making Change Happen: Black and White Activists Talk to Kevin Cook about Aboriginal, Union and Liberation Politics (review). Australian Historical Studies. 46(1), pp. 132 - 133. https://doi.org/10.1080/1031461X.2015.992827
Outmanoeuvring defence: The Australian debates over gay and lesbian military service, 1992
Riseman, Noah Jed. (2015). Outmanoeuvring defence: The Australian debates over gay and lesbian military service, 1992. Australian Journal of Politics and History. 61(4), pp. 562 - 575. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajph.12119
Promoting deep learning: tutorial exercises to bring American history to life
Riseman, Noah. (2015). Promoting deep learning: tutorial exercises to bring American history to life. Australasian Journal of American Studies (AJAS). 34(2), pp. 113 - 123.
Escaping assimilation's grasp : Aboriginal women in the Australian women's military services
Riseman, Noah. (2015). Escaping assimilation's grasp : Aboriginal women in the Australian women's military services. Women's History Review. 24(5), pp. 757 - 775. https://doi.org/10.1080/09612025.2014.975499
The rise of indigenous military history
Riseman, Noah. (2014). The rise of indigenous military history. History Compass. 12(12), pp. 901 - 911. https://doi.org/10.1111/hic3.12205
Enduring Silences, Enduring Prejudices: Australian Aboriginal Participation in the First World War
Riseman, Noah. (2014). Enduring Silences, Enduring Prejudices: Australian Aboriginal Participation in the First World War. In In D. Monger, S. Murray and K. Pickles (Ed.). Endurance and the First World War: Experience and Legacies in New Zealand and Australia Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Aboriginal military service and assimilation
Riseman, Noah. (2014). Aboriginal military service and assimilation. Aboriginal History. 38(Dec), pp. 155-178.
Observations of Catalan Independence: A Foreigner's Perspective
Riseman, Noah. (2014). Observations of Catalan Independence: A Foreigner's Perspective. Blue Gum (online). 1(1), pp. 36 - 41.
Indigenous experience of war (British Dominions)
Riseman, Noah and Winegard, Timothy C.. (2014). Indigenous experience of war (British Dominions) Berlin: Freie Universität Berlin.
The curious case of Mervyn Eades: National Service, discrimination and Aboriginal people
Riseman, Noah Jed. (2013). The curious case of Mervyn Eades: National Service, discrimination and Aboriginal people. Australian Journal of Politics and History. 59(1), pp. 63 - 79. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajph.12004
Racism, Indigenous people, and the Australian armed forces in the post-Second World War era
Riseman, Noah. (2013). Racism, Indigenous people, and the Australian armed forces in the post-Second World War era. History Australia. 10(2), pp. 159 - 179. https://doi.org/10.1080/14490854.2013.11668466
Equality in the ranks : The lives of Aboriginal Vietnam veterans
Riseman, Noah Jed. (2012). Equality in the ranks : The lives of Aboriginal Vietnam veterans. Journal of Australian Studies. 36(4), pp. 411-426. https://doi.org/10.1080/14443058.2012.727448
Defending whose country?: Indigenous soldiers in the Pacific war
Riseman, Noah Jed. (2012). Defending whose country?: Indigenous soldiers in the Pacific war University of Nebraska Press.
Rectifying 'The Great Australian Silence'?: Creative representations of Australian Indigenous Second World War service
Riseman, Noah. (2012). Rectifying 'The Great Australian Silence'?: Creative representations of Australian Indigenous Second World War service. Australian Aboriginal Studies.
The stolen veteran: institutionalisation, military service, and the Stolen Generations
Riseman, Noah Jed. (2011). The stolen veteran: institutionalisation, military service, and the Stolen Generations. Aboriginal History. 35, pp. 57 - 77.
Contesting white knowledge: Yolngu stories from World War II
Riseman, Noah. (2010). Contesting white knowledge: Yolngu stories from World War II. Oral History Review. 37(2), pp. 170 - 190. https://doi.org/10.1093/ohr/ohq051
Introduction to Learning, Teaching and Social Justice in Higher Education
Riseman, Noah, Rechter, Sue and Warne, Ellen. (2010). Introduction to Learning, Teaching and Social Justice in Higher Education. In In Riseman, N., Rechter, S. and Warne, E. (Ed.). Learning, Teaching and Social Justice in Higher Education pp. iii-vi Uni of Melb eScholarship Research Centre with the School of Arts and Sciences (VIC), ACU.
Australian [mis]treatment of indigenous labour in World War II Papua and New Guinea
Riseman, Noah. (2010). Australian [mis]treatment of indigenous labour in World War II Papua and New Guinea. Labour History: A Journal of Labour and Social history. 98(1), pp. 163 - 182.
Forgetting and (Re)membering Indigenous Soldiers :Yolngu and Navajo Veterans of World War II
Riseman, Noah Jed. (2009). Forgetting and (Re)membering Indigenous Soldiers :Yolngu and Navajo Veterans of World War II. In Martin Crotty (Ed.). When the Soldiers Return: November 2007 Conference Proceedings. Brisbane, Australia: University of Queensland Press. pp. 41 - 53
Black skins, black work: Race and labour in world war ii Papua and new guinea
Riseman, Noah Jed. (2009). Black skins, black work: Race and labour in world war ii Papua and new guinea. In In B. oliver (Ed.). Labour History in the New Century pp. 63 - 75 Black Swan Press.
'Japan fight. Aboriginal people fight. European people fight': Yolngu stories from World War II
Riseman, Noah. (2008). 'Japan fight. Aboriginal people fight. European people fight': Yolngu stories from World War II. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education. 37, pp. 65 - 72.
Exploited soldiers: Navaho and Yolngu units in World War II
Riseman, Noah. (2008). Exploited soldiers: Navaho and Yolngu units in World War II. Journal of Northern Territory History.
Disrupting assimilation: Soldiers, missionaries, and Aboriginal people in Arnhem Land during World War II
Riseman, Noah. (2008). Disrupting assimilation: Soldiers, missionaries, and Aboriginal people in Arnhem Land during World War II. In In A. Barry, J. Cruickshank and A. Brown-May et al. (Ed.). Evangelists of Empire? Missionaries in Colonial History pp. 245 - 262 University of Melbourne eScholarship Research Centre in collaboration with School of Arts and Sciences (VIC); Australian Catholic University.
Disrupting assimilation: Soldiers, missionaries and Aboriginal people in Arnhem land during World War II
Riseman, Noah. (2007). Disrupting assimilation: Soldiers, missionaries and Aboriginal people in Arnhem land during World War II. Melbourne Historical Journal. 35, pp. 73 - 89.
Defending whose country? Yolngu and the Northern Territory Special Reconnaissance in the Second World War
Riseman, Noah Jed. (2007). Defending whose country? Yolngu and the Northern Territory Special Reconnaissance in the Second World War. Limina: A Journal of Historical and Cultural Studies. 13, pp. 80 - 91.
Regardless of history? Re-assessing the Navajo codetalkers of World War II
Riseman, Noah. (2007). Regardless of history? Re-assessing the Navajo codetalkers of World War II. Australasian Journal of American Studies (AJAS). 26(2), pp. 48 - 73.
Preserving a white military: The Australian armed forces and indigenous people in the second world war
Riseman, Noah Jed. (2007). Preserving a white military: The Australian armed forces and indigenous people in the second world war. In In L. Boucher, J. Carey and K. Ellinghaus (Ed.). Historicizing Whiteness: Transnational Perspectives on the Construction of an Identity pp. 133 - 142 RMIT Publishing in association with the School of historical Studies, University of Melbourne.
Medical choice: The Australian movement to legalise abortion, 1967 - 80
Riseman, Noah. (2005). Medical choice: The Australian movement to legalise abortion, 1967 - 80. Lilith: A Feminist History Journal. 14, pp. 92 - 104.