Biden Reverses Trump-Era Transgender Military Ban

President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Monday reversing former President Donald Trump’s policy of restricting transgender soldiers’ military service. Biden’s order revokes Trump’s 2018 Presidential Moratorium on Military Service by Transgender Individuals, which mandated that transgender soldiers identify with their biological sex, banned recruits with a gender dysphoria diagnosis, and stopped covering gender reassignment surgery on military health plans. Furthermore, Biden’s order states that “it shall be the policy of the United States” that transgender soldiers may serve “openly and free from discrimination.” Coverage in right-rated outlets was less common and more likely to focus on the issue of trans health coverage. Coverage in left- and center-rated outlets was more common and more likely to refer to Trump’s policy as a “transgender ban.”