For the first time since President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender troops in the military, the U.S. Navy has granted a waiver to a service member seeking to serve under their preferred gender.
Trump first proposed the ban in a series of tweets, saying, “After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military.”
….Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017
The ban went into effect in 2019, three years after the Obama Administration began allowing transgender service members to serve openly.
In a statement to CNN, a Navy spokeswoman said, “The acting Secretary of the Navy has approved a specific request for exemption related to military service by transgender persons and persons with gender dysphoria.”
The spokeswoman added that the “service member requested a waiver to serve in their preferred gender,” adding that they are “allowed to adhere to standards associated with their preferred gender, such as uniforms and grooming.”
Trump’s transgender ban was challenged in the courts, though it was eventually supported in the Supreme Court in 2019.
In 2018, while the legality of Trump’s transgender ban was in limbo with the courts, the Pentagon confirmed that a transgender recruit had signed a military contract.
The ban received criticism from House Democrats who, in June of 2019, passed an amendment to bar the Pentagon from using funds to enforce the transgender ban.
At the time of the House vote, Congressman Anthony Brown (D-Md.) argued, “The President and his administration wrongfully argue that it’s about military readiness and unit cohesion, but these arguments are the same ones that were made to keep the military racially segregated.”