US President Joe Biden today (Monday) lifted the ban imposed by his predecessor in office, Donald Trump, about four years ago on the service of transgender people in the US military.
Biden signs first orders as US president at White House (Photo: Reuters)
“President Biden believes that gender identity should not be an obstacle to military service. The power of the United States lies in its diversity,” the White House official said in a statement.
As you may recall, Trump announced in July 2017 that the White House would not allow transgender people to serve in the United States military. In a tweet he posted on his official Twitter account, he stated that “America will not accept transgender people for any position in the military.”
The statement came weeks after US Secretary of Defense Jim Matisse announced that the matter was under investigation. “The Pentagon is giving the military six more circulars to conduct a review to determine whether recruiting transgender people into the military will affect its readiness and lethality,” Matisse said at the time.
“After consultations with senior generals and military experts, I announce that the U.S. government will not allow transgender people to be recruited for any position,” Trump wrote at the beginning of his remarks, explaining, “Our military must be focused on achieving a decisive and decisive victory. We can not bear the high medical costs of treating them. “