Military to Allow Transgender Troops to Serve Openly

The Pentagon on Wednesday announced that transgender troops may serve openly in the military and receive medical benefits for gender transitions, following through on President Joe Biden's pledge from earlier this year.

The new policies will allow transgender people to enlist in the military and serve openly as their self-identified gender, and that they will have access to medical treatments for transition-related care authorized by law. These troops must still meet military standards.

The move delivers relief to what advocates considered unnecessary punitive measures from the Trump administration that they believe harms military readiness.

"We have consistently said that restoring a policy of full inclusion for transgender troops would be straightforward," Aaron Belkin, director of the California-based Palm Center research institute, says in an emailed statement to U.S. News. "This is a big step toward making our military stronger and fairer, and it recognizes years of research showing that a single standard for all service members improves readiness and allows for the widest possible pool of qualified personnel.

"We will continue to monitor the re-integration of transgender troops, and to help ensure that every American willing and able to serve has the opportunity to defend their country," Belkin says.

Biden first announced in January his intention to overturn the ban Trump imposed in 2017 – without prior notice to or consultation with the Pentagon – and reinstate many of the privileges the Obama administration began enacting in 2016. Biden's executive order called on the military services, including the Coast Guard under the Department of Homeland Security, to conduct a review over 60 days to consider the new policy, and prohibited any service member from being forced out of the military over gender identity matters during that time.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has also called for a review of troops who may have been dismissed in recent years because of gender identity.

The Associated Press first reported the rule changes. Multiple sources confirm the changes to U.S. News prior to the Pentagon's confirmation.

Department spokesman John Kirby confirmed the changes at a press briefing on Wednesday, moments after Austin's Twitter account posted his new directions for the military.

"We will remain the best and most capable team because we avail ourselves of the best possible talent that America has to offer, regardless of gender identity," Austin wrote.

The new policy will take effect in 30 days, Kirby said.

Stephanie Miller, director of the Pentagon's Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, who spoke alongside Kirby, told reporters that currently 2,200 active duty troops have been diagnosed with what military medical professionals call "gender dysphoria" or have sought medical care related to a gender transition. She estimates as many as 8,000 members of the military identify as transgender, though not all may seek medical care for a gender transition.

The policy announcement Wednesday serves as the latest example of controversial legacies of the Trump administration that Biden has attempted to erase.

"President Biden believes that gender identity should not be a bar to military service, and that America's strength is found in its diversity," the White House said in a fact sheet it released shortly after Biden signed the order in January. "America is stronger, at home and around the world, when it is inclusive. The military is no exception. Allowing all qualified Americans to serve their country in uniform is better for the military and better for the country because an inclusive force is a more effective force. Simply put, it's the right thing to do and is in our national interest."

A 2016 study estimated fewer than 6,600 transgender people served among the 1.3 million active duty force, or half of 1 percent, with smaller numbers among reservists.

Austin said during his confirmation hearing last week that he approved overturning the ban.

A June 2019 Gallup poll, taken as Trump's ban underwent legal challenges, found that 71% of Americans supported allowing transgender people to serve openly in the military. Majorities of those who identified as Democrats and independents supported overturning it, while Republicans opposed.

The military's own analysis submitted to Congress in 2018 found that the additional medical costs for transgender troops – one of the reasons Trump supporters cited for reimposing the ban – were negligible, particularly in comparison to the Defense Department's behemoth $700 billion budget.

Wednesday marks International Transgender Day of Visibility, which Biden said in a White House proclaimation "recognizes the generations of struggle, activism, and courage that have brought our country closer to full equality for transgender and gender non-binary people in the United States and around the world."

"Transgender Americans make our nation more prosperous, vibrant, and strong. I urge my fellow Americans to join us in uplifting the worth and dignity of every transgender person," Biden said in the proclaimation.