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Navy issues waiver to allow trans service member to serve under preferred gender

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The Navy issued a waiver that allows a transgender service member to serve under their preferred gender — the first such exemption granted by the Department of Defense since the Trump administration enacted a ban on transgender people in the military in 2019.

A Navy spokesperson confirmed Thursday that the service member had received the waiver.

The Trump administration policy undid an order by President Barack Obama that allowed transgender people to serve. The Trump policy allowed any service member who had already been diagnosed with gender dysphoria to continue serving but banned anyone with gender dysphoria from joining the military or transitioning genders without a special exemption.

President Donald Trump initially caught military officials off-guard in 2017 when he announced on Twitter that he would no longer allow transgender people to serve in the military. After the new policy was formally introduced, it was challenged in court before it was upheld by a U.S. Apellate Court in 2019.