reversed by President Joe Biden soon after taking office earlier this year.Under the Trump ban, active-duty transgender people could not receive a diagnosis of gender dysphoria and could not pursue gender confirmation surgery, although a small minority of transgender service members who had previously undergone surgery were “grandfathered” in and allowed to continue serving.
Former President Trump also claimed that the cost of gender confirmation surgeries would be exorbitant and that allowing transgender service members to undergo gender confirmation surgery would hurt morale and unit cohesion.The announcement also marks a departure from the policy under President Obama, in which the VA instituted a ban on providing gender confirmation.