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Biden Repeals Trump-Era Ban On Transgender Soldiers
By: Scott Detrow | NPR
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (NPR) — President Biden has repealed a controversial Trump-era ban on transgender people serving in the U.S. military.
“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 says in a fact sheet.
Biden had campaigned on overturning former President Donald Trump’s ban. At his recent Senate confirmation hearing, Austin told lawmakers he supported the move.
“If you’re fit and you’re qualified to serve, and you can maintain the standards, you should be allowed to serve,” Austin said.
Trump initially ordered a ban on transgender soldiers in a series of tweets in July 2017.
“After consultation with my generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military,” Trump wrote on the online platform he has since been banned from.
Despite that claim, the announcement caught then-Defense Secretary James Mattis and the rest of Pentagon leadership by surprise.
A month later, Trump made the order official in a presidential memo, though the ban was then blocked by federal courts before the U.S. Supreme Court finally allowed it to go forward in early 2019.
The executive order Biden signed Monday will take several steps:
- It will fully repeal the two different orders Trump signed barring transgender individuals from military service;
- it will immediately bar servicemembers from being discharged or denied reenlistment for their gender identity;
- and it will order both the secretary of defense and the secretary of homeland security to begin the process of allowing transgender servicemembers to serve openly.
Biden is also asking for a progress report from both departments within 60 days.
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