The U.S. Department of Defense today repealed the Trump administration’s policy that essentially banned transgender people from serving in the military and issued new rules to provide transgender people with greater access to health care services and assistance.
The new rules allow transgender individuals who meet the criteria for military service to serve in the military and to serve openly as the gender with which they identify, Defense Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters at a briefing. They will be able to receive medically necessary gender transition-related care as permitted by law.
President Biden signed an executive order in January, days after taking office, reversing the ban on transgender service in the military, and the Defense Department spent two months reviewing and evaluating guidelines for the new policy.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin gave the Pentagon two months to finalize more detailed rules that the military must follow.
The new rules, issued by the Pentagon on International Transgender Day of Visibility, which also prohibits gender identity discrimination, will take effect in 30 days. Kirby said this will give the military Time to update its policies and provide guidelines to commanders.
In a statement today, Austin said, “The U.S. Army is the finest fighting force on the planet because we are an all-volunteer military, willing to defend the rights and freedoms of all Americans.”
Austin also asked to revisit the records of those who served in the military to see if anyone was discharged or denied an extension of service under the previous policy because of their gender identity. Stephanie Miller, the Defense Department’s director of recruiting policy, told reporters there is no data on how many people have been discharged or denied extensions of service because of their gender identity.
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