President Joe Biden is poised to repeal his predecessor Donald Trump’s ban on transgender people enlisting in the U.S. military, a person familiar with the matter said, writes Reuters.
Trump announced the ban in July 2017, reversing a landmark decision by his predecessor, Barack Obama, which allowed transgender people to serve openly and receive medical care to transition genders.
According to U.S. Department of Defense data, there are about 1.3 million active personnel serving in the U.S. military, but no official figures on the number of trans members are available.
While transgender military personnel under Trump’s policy were allowed to keep serving, new recruits were kept out.
Biden’s plan to repeal the ban is supported by newly confirmed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.