Pentagon sets policies for transgender service members to openly serve again

WASHINGTON — The Defense Department on Wednesday outlined policies that reverse Trump-era bans restricting transgender troops from serving openly, including medical care resources to help transition while in uniform.

The new Pentagon guidelines roll back 2019 Trump administration restrictions that severely limited how transgender people could enlist and serve. An early executive order from President Joe Biden offered immediate protection for troops at risk of being forced out of the military.

Transgender people can now enlist in their self-identified gender if they meet military enlistment standards, according to the policy. They may also receive medically necessary transition-related care when allowed by law, according to the guidelines, which were first reported by the Associated Press. The guidelines also prohibit discrimination based on gender identity.

The policy takes effect April 30, defense officials said, after commanders receive guidance on implementation.

Advocates estimate that transgender troops number close to 15,000. About 2,200 of them have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria and are seeking care, Stephanie Miller, a defense official overseeing accessions in the military, said in a Wednesday news conference.

The Trump-era restrictions imposed tight limits on transgender troops, allowing them to serve only if they hadn’t been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, hadn’t transitioned gender and didn’t need to, and could meet standards for their biological gender including for grooming and uniforms.

The new directive largely restores the Obama administration’s policies set in 2016, which broadened the ability for transgender people to enlist and serve with some restrictions, such as disqualifying recruits with gender dysphoria unless they were “stable” for 18 months in their preferred or biological sex.

The Trump regulations amounted effectively to a transgender ban, according to advocates and activists, who have argued that deepening the enlistment pool to transgender people will help solve the military’s perennial challenges to attract enough recruits.