WASHINGTON, April 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US President Donald Trump’s controversial ban on transgender Americans in the military comes into force on Friday following a protracted legal battle.
Trump’s administration has insisted that there is “too great a risk to military effectiveness and lethality” to allow transgender people to serve — reversing a policy enacted under his predecessor Barack Obama.
The Pentagon says the restrictions are not a blanket ban, but they would bar many if not most people who identify as transgender from enlisting in America’s armed forces.
The policy — which has undergone various iterations since Trump first announced it on Twitter in July 2017 — has been widely criticized by rights activists and has been repeatedly challenged in court.
The US Supreme Court ultimately ruled in January that the policy could take effect pending the outcome of ongoing litigation.
Under the latest version of Trump’s policy, no one who has transitioned to another gender, been diagnosed with “gender dysphoria” or who requires hormone treatment will be able to enlist.
But currently enlisted troops who have already transitioned or have requested gender reassignment surgery prior to Friday will be allowed to remain in the military.
Under the Obama-era policy, transgender recruits were to start being accepted by July 1, 2017. The Trump administration postponed that date to Jan 1, 2018, before deciding to reverse the policy entirely.
The Pentagon estimates that 9,000 people who identify as transgender are currently serving in the military, out of a total of 1.3 million active-duty personnel. Of this figure, a thousand say they have undergone gender reassignment surgery or want to do so. — NNN-AGENCIES