Pentagon Releases New Policies Enabling Transgender People To Serve In Military

The Pentagon announced new policies on Wednesday that undo the previous administration's rules that effectively banned transgender people from serving in the military (article available here). The announcement coincides with International Transgender Day of Visibility. The new policies take effect April 30, 2021. 

Biden signed an executive order repealing the transgender ban in his first week in office in January.

Among the provisions:

• The military will now provide service members a process by which they may transition gender while serving.
• A service member may not be involuntarily discharged or denied reenlistment solely on the basis of gender identity.
• Procedures will be developed for changing a service member's gender marker.
• The Defense Health Agency will develop clinical practice guidelines to support the medical treatment of service members diagnosed with gender dysphoria.