Biden Reverses Transgender Military Ban

Sources from the Pentagon have confirmed that transgender people will no longer be barred from the U.S. Military. This announcement comes after the Trump administration’s federal transgender military ban, which was passed in early 2019 despite a great deal of backlash from members and allies of the LGBTQ community.

Removal of the transgender military ban has been a vow of President Biden’s campaign. This was one of many executive orders that President Biden has put into place since his inauguration. These policies also addressed immigration, COVID-19, the environment, and national security.

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Executive actions that Biden has signed so far

Some argue that President Biden’s lifting of the ban does not prevent the need for safeguards to better ensure the safety of transgender people serving in the United States military. For example, the executive action does not promise some much needed policy consistency. That said, lifting the ban has renewed hope and eased frustration for those who have been unable to serve these past few years. 

Recruitment policy is still under review as specific guidelines on implementation have yet to be released, but Pentagon officials feel that those enlisting or reenlisting can do so without fear of recruitment discrimination based on their gender identity. Pentagon spokesperson Captain John Kirby clarified the timeline during the Defense Department briefing February 5.

“If an individual meets all the other fitness and academic requirements to join the military, transgender identity will not be a bar,” Kirby explained. “I would say, in terms of enlistment, that problem is solved. So today, someone could walk in and join.” 

Kirby also addressed that more is to be done regarding the policy change. “[The Secretary of State] gave the department two months to come back to him with more specific implementation guidelines and procedures and protocols. I’m sure that once we get that and we’ve been able to solidify the recommendations going forward, you’ll see us put out what the specific implementations on all the aspects of transgender service are.

“There’s some implementation things that we have to get in place to make sure that continued service is not impacted either. We just want to go back to where we were in 2016 and make sure we issue appropriate guidelines to the service.”