Since its start in 1917 the Selective Service system was established to create a database of young men who may serve as potential members of the U.S. Armed Forces. After the Vietnam War, the U.S Armed Forces moved to an all volunteer basis of recruitment, however keeping mandatory registration in place. Over thirty years since the move to volunteer based recruitment, many young men do not realize they will soon have to register for the draft upon their eighteenth birthday. The registration process is simple and can be as easy as checking a box when you apply for Federal Student Financial Aid (FASA). In fact most High School guidance centers have the registration form available for their male students. Failure to register for the Draft can result in $250,000 in fines and prosecution though rarely has any person ever been prosecuted.

Most young men unaware of the mandatory draft registration find it alarming at first but ultimately inconsequential. After a quick form or check of a box, they can now receive many government benefits such as federal financial aide, receive federal job training, and work as a federal employee. For most, the biggest advantage is the financial aid available to continue their education after High School. Well that and not being federally prosecuted for breaking the law.

The process is simple but for our transgendered friends, the process of registering for the draft becomes a lot more stressful, forcing an individual who may not identify as one sex to do so on paper. The Selective Service requires all people physically assigned male at birth to register for the draft. All people physically assigned female at birth are exempt. Since the Selective Service database goes by the sex an individual is assigned at birth, all male to female (MTF) transgendered Americans must register with the Selective Service. No matter when they have transitioned. The same goes for individuals who have female to male transitional (FTM). No matter when a person has transitioned as FTM you are exempt from the draft. The lasting effects of the mandatory draft registration on the transgendered and gender variant community are unclear; being no active draft has recently taken place.

The Selective Service site officially recognizes the transgendered community as “individuals who have had a sex change”. This would imply that the Selective Service recognizes the issues of transgendered Americans related to the draft but refuses to recognize them as a community. Currently a sort of we will “cross that bridge when we come to it” scenario is being played out. This scenario makes it unclear whether during a time of mandatory draft if a transgendered MTF woman will be allowed to or required to serve in the military. If the time ever comes where the federal government needs a mandatory draft, will this draft require MTF transgendered Americans to report as male? The answer is unclear and considered a gray area that is better left alone.

What we do know now is that MTF females must register as male for the draft in order to receive their federal benefits but may or may not be allowed to serve in the military during a time of draft. FTM males are not required to register as male and will not be a part of a Selective Service draft; however, those FTM who transitioned before their eighteenth birthday and changed their birth certificate may register for the Selective Service. In addition there is no ban on sexual identity within the military like with sexual orientation but trans people are often perceived as gay, lesbian, or bisexual and open for investigation under “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”.

At the end of the day, the mandatory draft registration process is yet another government agency that is refusing to recognize a trans man as a man or a trans woman as a woman and brings up a host of more questions regarding equal treatment for all Americans within the military service.