The Pentagon is Scrapping Trump’s Restrictions on Transgender Troops
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon on Wednesday scrapped restrictions on transgender troops imposed by the Trump administration, and unveiled new rules designed to end discrimination and provide medical care for those service members.
The Defense Department’s new policy will permit troops to serve openly under their self-identified gender and will offer access to medical treatments for gender transition, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters.
The move restores Pentagon policy on transgender troops to where it stood before Donald Trump entered office in 2017, Kirby said. The Trump administration largely banned transgender people from serving openly in the military.
The announcement followed a two-month review by the Pentagon designed to develop detailed guidelines for the military after President Joe Biden issued an executive overturning Trump’s policy. Biden’s executive order, issued shortly after his inauguration, barred any transgender service member from being kicked out of the force based on gender identity.
