One of the first military policy changes President-elect Joe Biden is expected to make when he takes office is repealing President Trump’s ban on transgender service members.
During the campaign, Biden indicated that lifting the ban would be a “day one” priority, but it is unclear if he will indeed act on his first day in office or if the issue will have to wait a bit longer.
Either way, transgender troops and their advocates expect the ban to repealed quickly, and they say there is no reason not to act immediately.
“This is something I’ve been waiting a very long time for, so obviously I would love to see this go through as quickly as possible,” said Nicolas Talbott, a transgender man who was in the Army ROTC program at the time the ban took effect and is a plaintiff in one of the lawsuits against the policy.
“When the ban is finally lifted it will be like a giant weight off my shoulders,” he added. “This is something I feel very passionately about not only for myself but for thousands of other people out there just like me who have been waiting for years to finally be able to begin our lives and our careers.”
In a statement marking Transgender Day of Remembrance last week, Biden pledged to transgender and gender nonconforming people that “from the moment I am sworn in as president of the United States, know that my administration will see you, listen to you, and fight for not only your safety but also the dignity and justice you have been denied.”
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