REVERSING TRUMP, PENTAGON RELEASES NEW TRANS POLICIES

Washington — The Pentagon on Wednesday swept away Trump-era policies that largely banned transgender people from serving in the military, issuing new rules that offer them wider access to medical care and assistance with gender transition.

The new department regulations allow transgender people who meet military standards to enlist and serve openly in their self-identified gender, and they will be able to get medically necessary transition-related care authorized by law, chief Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters during a briefing.

The changes come after a two-month Pentagon review aimed at developing guidelines for the new policy, which was announced by President Joe Biden just days after he took office in January.

Washington — The Defense Department on Wednesday reversed a Trump-era ban restricting transgender troops from serving openly, outlining new policies that include greater access to medical care resources to help people transition while in uniform.

The new Pentagon guidelines roll back 2019 Trump administration restrictions that limited how transgender people could enlist and serve. Soon after taking office, President Joe Biden issued an executive order offering immediate protection for troops at risk of being forced out of the military, with the White House saying in a statement that “America is stronger, at home and around the world, when it is inclusive.”

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 during a Wednesday news conference.

The transgender military community celebrated the policy changes, and some advocates have heard that transgender people are already contacting recruiters to enlist, said Air Force Lt. Col. Bree Fram, the highest-ranking openly transgender officer in the Defense Department.

“It was a challenge to operate in an environment when the official position was that we’re a burden on service,” said Fram, who spoke on behalf of SPART*A, an advocacy organization in which she serves as vice president.

“We’re ready to get back to our mission, which is accomplishing the needs of our services and defending the country,” Fram said.

The Trump-era restrictions allowed transgender troops to serve only if they had not been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, had not transitioned their sex and did not need to, and could meet standards for their gender assigned at birth, including for grooming and uniforms. Gender dysphoria is distress caused by a mismatch between one’s sex-based gender assigned at birth and one’s gender identity.

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 limitations, such as disqualifying recruits with gender dysphoria unless they were “stable” for 18 months in their preferred gender or gender assigned at birth.

The policy now says recruits with a “history of sex reassignment or genital reconstruction surgery” are disqualified unless it has been 18 months since surgery, no complications exist and the recruit does not need further surgery.

The Trump-era regulations amounted effectively to a ban on transgender troops, according to advocates and activists, who have said that deepening the enlistment pool to transgender people will help solve the military’s perennial challenges to attract enough recruits. Many Americans are already disqualified to serve because of criminal records or health issues.

Capt. Alivia Stehlik, an Army officer at Fort Carson in Colorado who transitioned to female after the Obama policy was implemented, said the past two years have been difficult on transgender troops who have not had access to treatment.

There are opportunities to improve the guidelines, Stehlik said, such as requiring high-level approval from a commander for transgender treatment plans. No other medical treatment requires that level of scrutiny, Stehlik said.

Subsequent restrictions bruised morale and hurt recruiting and retention efforts, former top military physicians said in a November study published by the Palm Center, a research institute that studies LGBTQ personnel issues in the military.

The Pentagon has not made public any statistic on how many transgender troops may have left the military since the 2019 order took effect, but the agency is reviewing how many may have been forced out or denied reenlistment, Miller said.

“We should avail ourselves of the best possible talent in our population, regardless of gender identity,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in January after the Biden executive order was announced. “This is the right thing to do. It is also the smart thing to do.”

The January order rankled some conservatives, who said that reopening service to transgender people was focused on social engineering rather than military necessity. Donald Trump and other conservatives described allowing transgender people in uniform as costly and a distraction.

A 2016 Rand Corp. study commissioned by the Pentagon concluded that medical costs were negligible and found no evidence among foreign allies that allowing transgender people to serve hurt unit cohesion.

The Pentagon does not anticipate a significant impact on military medical budgets, Miller said.

While transgender service members counted the new guidelines as a win, some doubt that the policy will survive unless lawmakers or court decisions implement durable protections, Stehlik said, now that the policy has changed for a third time.

“No one believes there is longevity,” Stehlik said. “The next president could just write another executive order.”