Biden reverses Trump’s transgender military service ban

President Biden signed an executive order on Monday that reverses former president Donald Trump’s ban on transgender people openly serving in the military.

According to the Associated Press:

The new order, which Biden is expected to sign in the Oval Office during a meeting with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, overturns a ban ordered by President Donald Trump in a tweet during his first year in office. It immediately prohibits any service member from being forced out of the military on the basis of gender identity.

Biden’s order says that gender identity should not be a bar to military service.

“America is stronger, at home and around the world, when it is inclusive. The military is no exception,” the order says. “Allowing all qualified Americans to serve their country in uniform is better for the military and better for the country because an inclusive force is a more effective force. Simply put, it’s the right thing to do and is in our national interest.”

Today, I repealed the discriminatory ban on transgender people serving in the military. It’s simple: America is safer when everyone qualified to serve can do so openly and with pride.

— President Biden (@POTUS) January 25, 2021

Axios reports that “the ban, which allowed the military to bar openly transgender recruits and discharge people for not living as their sex assigned at birth, affected up to 15,000 service members, according to tallies from the National Center for Transgender Equality and Transgender American Veterans Association.”

The reaction online was largely positive. It’s notable that there were several bot accounts posting the same negative message.