Pentagon Unveils Policies Allowing Trans Troops
The revised policy restores access to gender-affi rming medical care
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
In accordance with a pair of
directives from President Joe
Biden, the Pentagon is offi
cially reversing anti-trans
military policies implemented under
former President Donald Trump.
The Department of Defense announced
March 31 that the agency
is restoring its 2016 policies, which
fi rst allowed transgender service
members to serve openly in the
military, effective April 30. The
updated policies restore discrimination
protections on the basis of
gender identity and allow trans
services members to access gender
affi rming medical care.
The department’s update comes
months after the Biden administration
signed two executive orders
— one combating discrimination
on the basis of sexual orientation
or gender identity and the other
The Pentagon will overturn the trans military ban on April 30.
lifting the Trump administration’s
ban on trans troops.
“The United States armed forces
are in the business of defending
our fellow citizens from our enemies,
foreign and domestic,” Defense
Secretary Lloyd Austin said
REUTERS/BRYAN WOOLSTON
in a written statement. “I believe
we accomplish that mission more
effectively when we represent all
our fellow citizens. I also believe we
should avail ourselves of the best
possible talent in our population,
regardless of gender identity. We
MILITARY
would be rendering ourselves less
fi t to the task if we excluded from
our ranks people who meet our
standards and who have the skills
and devotion to serve in uniform.
This is the right thing to do. It is
also the smart thing to do.”
Former President Trump fi rst
announced the ban on Twitter in
2017 and went on to justify his
policy by pushing nonsensical
claims that trans people were unfi t
to serve because of high transitionrelated
healthcare costs.
“We’d actually have to break
rules and regulations in order to
have that,” Trump falsely stated
during an interview with Piers
Morgan of “Good Morning Britain.”
“It is what it is… The operation is
$200,000, $250,000, the recovery
period is long, and they have to
take large amounts of drugs after
➤ TRANSGENDER TROOPS, continued on p.22
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