Joe Biden re-authorized transgender people by executive order to serve in the U.S. military on January 25, 2021, in the presence of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

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Evan Vucci / AP / SIPA

It was a campaign promise.

Joe Biden again authorized transgender people to serve in the US military on Monday, reversing a controversial decision by Donald Trump, deemed discriminatory by human rights groups.

In the presence of Minister of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chief of Staff General Mark Milley, the US President signed an executive order that "all Americans fit to serve in the United States armed forces should be able to do so. do, ”the White House said in a statement.

"President Biden believes that gender identity should not be an obstacle to service in the military and that America's strength lies in its diversity," adds the US executive.

“Allowing all able-bodied Americans to serve their country in uniform is better for the military and better for our country because an inclusive (military) force is a more effective force,” the statement continued.

"Put simply, that's what's right and it's in our national interest."

"Disturbances", according to Trump

At the end of his term, former Democratic President Barack Obama had planned that the army would begin welcoming transgender recruits on July 1, 2017. His Republican successor first postponed the deadline to January 1, 2018, then decided to completely reverse this policy.

Donald Trump had highlighted, in a round of tweets in July 2017, "the burden of enormous medical costs" and "disruptions", taking the opposite view of the military hierarchy.

After various legal actions, the case reached the Supreme Court, which in January 2019 authorized Donald Trump's administration to limit the rights of transgender people while awaiting the outcome of the ongoing legal battles.

9,000 people who identify as transgender

As of April 2019, transgender people are forced to serve based on their gender assigned at birth.

And people who need hormone treatment or gender reassignment surgery can no longer enlist, nor can people who have previously undergone medical treatment for gender reassignment.

The measure had been criticized by human rights defenders who considered it discriminatory and believed that it would lead transgender soldiers to conceal their gender identity.

The Pentagon estimates that 9,000 people who identify as transgender serve in the armed forces, 1,000 of whom say they have changed their sex or want to do so.

The US military has 1.3 million active service personnel.

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