Transgender People Can Still Serve for Now, U.S. Military Says

The military’s policy is unchanged until the White House alters the rules, a top Pentagon official said a day after President Trump announced that the armed services would bar transgender members. Trump’s announcement surprised military leaders at the Pentagon, who considered the matter largely settled after President Barack Obama last year granted transgender people the right to serve openly. It also infuriated civil rights groups, which threatened lawsuits, and created an uproar among transgender people on active duty. While General Dunford’s announcement relieved some immediate fears from transgender service members, it did not answer the question of how, and whether, the Pentagon would roll back the policy allowing transgender people to openly serve — what many advocates view as a civil right that, once given, would be difficult to take away.