Biden officially reverses Trump's ban on transgender military members

Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Lloyd Austin.
(Image credit: Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images)

President Biden on Monday officially reversed, via executive order, a ban on transgender people serving in the United States military. Former President Trump announced the restrictions in 2017, and Biden was widely expected to repeal them once in office.

On Twitter, Biden called the ban "discriminatory," writing that "America is safer when everyone qualified to serve can do so openly and with pride." An official statement from the White House echoed that sentiment, saying "an inclusive force is a more effective force."

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.