Transsexualism has again been recognized by the Ministry of Defense as a disqualifying premise from professional military service. Deputy Ombudsman Valeri Vachev has written to Defense Ministry Secretary of State Cezary Tomczyk on the matter. He asks, among other things, how and on what factual basis differentiated sexual characteristics (intersex - "hermaphroditism") and transgender ("transsexualism") would constitute an obstacle to military service. As he points out, the World Health Organization has removed transgenderism, including transsexualism, from its list of mental disorders.
Transsexualism disqualifies from professional military service. Deputy RPO asks the Defense Ministry about the rationale for this
Published April 25, 2024 11:38
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One of the Ombudsman's demands from the report: "The legal situation of non-heterosexual and transgender people in Poland. The International Standard for the Protection of the Human Rights of LGBT Persons and the Status of its Observance from the Ombudsman's Perspective" was to amend the Ministry of Defense's January 24, 2018 regulation on the adjudication of fitness for active military service and the procedure of military medical commissions in these cases - by removing transsexualism from the list of diseases preventing active military service.
The Ombudsman also drew attention to the hindered access to military service for transgender people in a May 14, 2020 letter to the Ministry of Defense. He argued that on June 18, 2018. The World Health Organization published an update to the International Classification of Diseases and Health Problems. In the current version - ICD 11 - transgenderism, including transsexualism, has been removed from the list of mental disorders. May 25, 2019. The WHO General Assembly unanimously adopted the new classification, thereby obliging member states, including Poland, to implement it.
According to the Defense Ministry's March 25, 2024 decree on the determination of fitness for military service and the procedure of military medical commissions in these matters, which came into effect on March 28, 2024, "transsexualism" and "hermaphroditism" are again listed as diseases and disabilities that are grounds for the commission's determination of categories "E" or "N," signifying total, permanent or temporary inability to perform active military service.
"Transsexualism" and "hermaphroditism" appear on the list of diseases or disabilities taken into account in the adjudication of fitness for military service and service outside the country, as well as limited fitness for professional military service in the various types of the armed forces of the Republic of Poland and types of troops and in specific service positions.
In the Ombudsman's opinion, the legal state limiting access to military service for transgender and intersex persons contradicts the current state of medical knowledge and the 2010 Recommendations of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on the Human Rights of Members of the Armed Forces, and can be considered a manifestation of discrimination based on gender identity.
And due to their obsolescence, the terms "transgender" and "hermaphroditism," used in the March 25, 2024 Defense Ministry decree, .are being abandoned in favor of the terms "transgender" and "intersex."
Valeri Vachev asks the Minister for what reasons "transsexualism" was again recognized in the Defense Ministry's March 25, 2024 decree as a disqualifying premise from professional military service. He also asks for an explanation of how and on what factual basis differentiated sexual characteristics (intersex - "hermaphroditism") and transgender ("transsexualism") would constitute an obstacle to military service.
