BIDEN REVERSES BAN ON TRANSGENDER CITIZENS IN MILITARY

President Joe Biden on Monday overturned a controversial ban by his predecessor on transgender individuals serving in the u.s. military. Flanked by Vice-president Kamala Harris, defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley, Biden signed the executive order in the Oval Office. “It’s simple: America is safer when everyone qualified to serve can do so openly and with pride,” Biden said on Twitter. Former democratic President Barack Obama in 2016 allowed trans people to serve openly and receive medical care to transition genders, but republican President donald Trump froze their recruitment while allowing serving personnel to remain. Trump announced the 2017 ban on Twitter. About 1.3 million active personnel serve in the u.s. military, department of defense data shows. There are no official figures on the number of trans members but the rand Corp, a u.s. policy research institute, estimated in 2016 about 2,450 active service members were transgender.