Biden to Lift Trans Military Ban

Biden will sign an executive order reversing the military ban on transgender service members, according to White House representative Jen Psaki. While the issue wasn’t one of the initial 17 executive orders the president signed on his first day of office, Psaki said it would be among the “additional executive actions” that will be taken “in the coming days and weeks.”

Biden had stated in the past that the reversal would be made “on day one,” however, the new secretary of defense, Lloyd Austin, has yet to be confirmed by Congress which could attribute to the delay. During his Senate hearing on Tuesday, Austin expressed his support for the reversal of the ban.

“If you’re fit, and you’re qualified to serv,e and you can maintain the standards, you should be allowed to serve and you can expect that I will support that throughout,” he said.

Before Austin, who, if confirmed, would be the first black defense secretary, can be sworn in, Congress must waive a rule that requires former military members to be retired for at least seven years before taking the office. The House will vote on the rule Thursday, followed by the Senate thereafter.

The ban initially enacted in 2017 by the Trump administration barred transgender Americans from serving in the military “in any capacity.” Trans service members who were enlisted when the ban came into effect were grandfathered in, however; anyone looking to receive gender-affirming care in the future was prevented from enlisting.

A 2016 Department of Defense survey estimated that 1 percent, or 8,980, active-duty troops were transgender. Using the same data, the Palm Center, which studies LGBTQ people in the military, estimated that an additional 5,727 transgender people were in the Selected Reserve, bringing the total, estimated number of transgender troops serving in 2016 to 14,707.

Blake Dremann, a transgender advocate and an active-duty lieutenant commander in the Navy, is among those looking forward to the ban’s reversal.

“We are excited for the ban to be lifted, and we never have to tell another service member that being their authentic selves is a barrier to serving their nation,” Dremann, who serves as treasurer of the LGBTQ military group Sparta, told NBC News. “The resilience and success of trans service members has shown we are committed to the success of the Nation.”