{"id":62485,"date":"2021-01-25T16:44:50","date_gmt":"2021-01-25T16:44:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/01\/25\/biden-ends-trump-ban-on-transgender-service-members\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T12:00:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T12:00:53","slug":"biden-ends-trump-ban-on-transgender-service-members","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/01\/25\/biden-ends-trump-ban-on-transgender-service-members\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden ends Trump ban on transgender service members"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Less than two years after then-President Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s ban on transgender service members<\/a> went into effect, President Joe Biden<\/a> has reversed it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An executive order signed Monday requires both the Pentagon and the Homeland Security Department, which oversees the Coast Guard, to remove gender identity as a bar to service<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe all-volunteer force thrives when it is composed of diverse Americans who can meet the rigorous standards for military service, and an inclusive military strengthens our national security,\u201d according to a release from the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move puts to bed a controversy that began in July 2017, when Trump tweeted that \u201cafter consultation with my generals and military experts\u201d he would no longer allow transgender Americans to serve in the military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That announcement, which took nearly two years to put into policy, came just over a year after then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter officially lifted the Defense Department\u2019s long-standing ban on transgender service members, after which the services implemented policy that allowed currently serving troops to undergo transitions to their preferred gender and be recognized as such in DoD personnel systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A transgender accessions policy had not yet been implemented, but experts at the time suggested requiring that an openly transgender recruit be several years post-transition in order to join up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2018 Palm Center study estimated that there are approximately 14,700 transgender troops currently serving, across the active-duty and reserve components.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis discriminatory ban was cruel and unnecessary from its inception, and we hope that its reversal sends a clear message to transgender and nonbinary youth everywhere that they should be proud of who they are, that they are deserving of our country\u2019s respect, and that they have the right to serve with honor,\u201d Amit Paley, executive director of The Trevor Project, said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"President
President Joe Biden meets with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, right, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, left, in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021, in Washington. (Evan Vucci\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Biden\u2019s order immediately shuts down any involuntary separations or denials of continued service based on gender identity, according to the release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSimply put, transgender service members will no longer be subject to the possibility of discharge or separation on the basis of gender identity; transgender service members can serve in their gender when transition is complete and the gender marker in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) is changed and transgender service members should know that they are accepted throughout the U.S. military,\u201d the release said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Previously, Pentagon policy allowed troops to create individual transition plans with their military health care providers, hammering out the kinds of medical intervention they would prefer, from hormone therapy to surgeries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday, those who believe in fact-based public policy and a strong, smart national defense have reason to be proud,\u201d Aaron Belkin, director of the Palm Center, said in a statement. \u201cThe Biden administration has made good on its pledge to put military readiness above political expediency by restoring inclusive policy for transgender troops.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Multiple studies and surveys dating back to 2017 have found broad support for transgender service members<\/a> among currently serving troops, as well as no evidence that transgender troops \u2015 either through their medical needs or their presence in units \u2015 have a detrimental effect on readiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\t