SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST:
President Biden has signed an executive order reversing the ban on trans people serving in the U.S. military. Studies suggest that trans people serve in the military at about twice the rate of the overall U.S. population. Biden s order stops involuntary discharges of trans personnel who were already serving and calls on the Pentagon to review the files of service personnel forced out under the ban. Two years ago, we spoke with Army Staff Sergeant Patricia King about a Supreme Court ruling allowing the Trump administration to enforce their ban. She joins us again this morning to talk about its reversal. Welcome to the program.
From left, transgender military members Navy Lt. Cmdr. Blake Dremann, Army Capt. Alivia Stehlik, Army Capt. Jennifer Peace and Army Staff Sgt. Patricia King, listen to an emotional committee member Rep. Debra Haaland, D-N.M., relate to the witnesses about her daughter who is gay during a House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 27, 2019. This was the first-ever hearing in which transgender military members have openly testified in Congress.
the associated press
The Gazette file
Source: Biden to drop Trump’s military transgender ban January 25 Spc. Alex Ketchum, an infantryman with 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas, officially changed her gender marker following a year and a half of hormone therapy and less than a year after the Defense Department lifted its ban on service for transgender troops. (Photo courtesy Spc. Alex Ketchum) President Joe Biden is set to issue an executive order to reverse a Pentagon policy that largely bars transgender individuals from joining the military, dumping a ban ordered by President Donald Trump in a tweet during his first year in office, a person briefed on the decision tells The Associated Press.
Patricia King can finally breathe again.
For King, a retired soldier who was once stationed at Fort Carson, the past several years have been marred by confusion and after the Trump administration banned transgender people from openly serving in the military.
But that is soon to change, as President Biden plans to lift the ban during his first days and weeks in office, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement Wednesday.
Specifics of Biden s policy have not been finalized, but overturning Trump s decision should mean transgender servicemembers could not only openly enlist and serve, but also regain access to gender-affirming medical care.
From left, transgender military members Navy Lt. Cmdr. Blake Dremann, Army Capt. Alivia Stehlik, Army Capt. Jennifer Peace and Army Staff Sgt. Patricia King, listen to an emotional committee member Rep. Debra Haaland, D-N.M., relate to the witnesses about her daughter who is gay during a House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 27, 2019. This was the first-ever hearing in which transgender military members have openly testified in Congress.
the associated press
The Gazette file