Joe Biden intends to reverse the ban on transgender people serving openly in the military imminently, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement on Wednesday, as reported by NBC News.
Although it isn't one of the 15 executive actions the Biden administration said it would take on the president's first day in office, Psaki said it would be one of the “additional executive actions” that will be taken “in the coming days and weeks.”
Before being sworn into office, Mr. Biden had vowed to reverse his predecessor's transgender military ban “on day one” of his presidency.
Watch President Biden deliver his Inaugural Address:However, Lloyd Austin, Biden's pick for secretary of defense, is going through the confirmation process still, per NBC News.
As part of his Senate hearing earlier this week, Austin said that he supports the reversal of the transgender military ban.
“If you’re fit and you’re qualified to serve and you can maintain the standards, you should be allowed to serve and you can expect that I will support that throughout,” he said.
Before Austin's confirmation process could take place, Congress had to waive a rule which states that former members of the military service should have been retired for at least seven years before they are eligible to serve as defense secretary.
The House and Senate passed the waiver on January 21, and then on January 22, the Senate confirmed Austin's position as defense secretary.
In July 2017, former President Donald Trump posted a series of tweets announcing that transgender people would be barred from serving in the military “in any capacity.”
This reversed the policy by the Obama administration in June 2016 to lift the transgender military ban.
Blake Dremann, a transgender advocate and an active-duty lieutenant commander in the Navy, shared his thoughts on a reversal of the ban.
“We are excited for the ban to be lifted and we never have to tell another service member that being their authentic selves is a barrier to serving their nation,” Dremann told NBC News in a statement.
“The resilience and success of trans service members has shown we are committed to the success of the Nation.”
