The Pentagon will sweep away Trump-era policies that largely banned transgender people from serving in the military, issuing new rules that offer them wider access to medical care and assistance with gender transition. The new rules also prohibit discrimination based on gender identity.
President Biden’s executive order overturned the Trump policy and immediately prohibited any service member from being forced out of the military on the basis of gender identity. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin then gave the Pentagon two months to finalize the more detailed regulations that the military services will follow.
The new department regulations allow transgender people who meet military standards to enlist and serve openly in their self-identified gender, and they will be able to get medically necessary transition-related care authorized by law.
Until some years ago, service members could be discharged from the military for being transgender, but that changed during the President Obama's Administration. In 2016, the Pentagon announced that transgender people already serving in the military would be allowed to serve openly, and that by July 2017, they would be allowed to enlist.
Afetr his victory, Trump caught military leaders by surprise, tweeting that his government wouldn’t accept or allow transgender people to serve in any capacity in the military. Fortunately, President Biden has reversed Trump's shaming decision.
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