The Pentagon has confirmed that the first transgender person has signed a contract to join the US military, a development made possible after a federal judge ruled that the military must accept transgender recruits.
CNN reports:
"The Department of Defense confirms that as of February 23, 2018, there is one transgender individual under contract for service in the US Military," Maj. Dave Eastburn told CNN.
The individual has met all the standards for serving in the military and signed a contract but has not yet begun basic training.
As you may recall, Trump surprised many last summer when he tweeted, "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."
Trump went on to blame "the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail" for the reasoning behind his decision.
It was later revealed he had not consulted with the heads of our armed forces.
This past Friday, Defense Secretary Mattis delivered his recommendations to the President regarding the future of transgender service members.
"We are waiting for the President to make a decision based on the Secretary's recommendation," Pentagon spokesman Col. Rob Manning told reporters Monday.
Earlier today I reported that several civil rights groups ran a full-page ad in USA Today calling on Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence to "not to put their politics ahead of our troops" and reverse the transgender military ban.
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