The Pentagon on Wednesday swept away Trump-era restrictions on transgender people joining the military, issuing new rules that offer them wider access to medical care and assistance with gender transition.

The new department regulations allow transgender people who meet military standards to enlist and serve openly in their self-identified gender, and they will be able to get medically necessary transition-related care authorized by law, Pentagon Spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

The changes come after a two-month Pentagon review aimed at developing guidelines for a new policy, which was announced by President Joe Biden just days after he took office in January. The new rules also prohibit discrimination based on gender identity. 

***As the number of voices facing big-tech censorship continues to grow, please sign up for CBN Newsletters and download the CBN News app to stay up-to-date with the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.*** 

“The United States military is the greatest fighting force on the planet because we are composed of an all-volunteer team willing to step up and defend the rights and freedoms of all Americans,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement Wednesday. “We will remain the best and most capable team because we avail ourselves of the best possible talent that America has to offer, regardless of gender identity.”

Until a few years ago, service members could be discharged from the military for being transgender, but that changed during the Obama administration. In 2016, the Pentagon announced that transgender people already serving in the military would be allowed to serve openly, and that by July 2017 transgenders would be allowed to enlist.

After Donald Trump took office, his administration delayed the enlistment date and called for additional study. A few weeks later, Trump tweeted that the government wouldn’t accept or allow transgender people to serve “in any capacity” in the military.

After a lengthy and complicated legal battle and additional reviews, the Defense Department in April 2019 approved a policy that fell short of an all-out ban but barred transgender troops and recruits from transitioning to another sex and required most individuals to serve in what the administration called their “birth gender.”

Under that policy, currently serving transgender troops and anyone who had signed an enlistment contract before the effective date could continue with plans for hormone treatments and gender transition if they had been diagnosed with gender dysphoria.

But after that date, no one with gender dysphoria who was taking hormones or had transitioned to another gender was allowed to enlist. Troops that were already serving and were diagnosed with gender dysphoria were required to serve in the gender assigned at birth and were barred from taking hormones or getting transition surgery.

The new policies released Wednesday are similar to those developed in 2016. 

Speaking during a Pentagon briefing, Stephanie Miller, the director of military accession policy, said there are 2,200 troops currently serving who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. That’s more than double the 1,071 who were serving in February 2019, according to data released then. 

The U.S. has more than 1.3 million active-duty troops and close to 800,000 in the National Guard and Reserves.

According to the Pentagon, the department spent about $8 million on transgender care from 2016 to 2019.

Several Republican lawmakers quickly denounced the military’s policy change. 

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) tweeted, “Another ‘unifying’ move by the new Administration?  Biden Ends Partial Ban on Transgender Soldiers in U.S. Military.

Another “unifying” move by the new Administration?

Biden Ends Partial Ban on Transgender Soldiers in U.S. Military https://t.co/DiVXdFnEQ8

— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) January 25, 2021

Responding to the announcement about the military paying for gender transitions, Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), a retired Lt. Commander and a former Navy SEAL tweeted on Thursday,  “Tell me this is an April Fools joke. Because if the reality is that an ex-General turned SECDEF actually thinks we should spend taxpayer money on gender transitions (making a service member undeployable), then he’s lost our trust.”

Tell me this is an April Fools joke.

Because if the reality is that an ex-General turned SECDEF actually thinks we should spend taxpayer money on gender transitions (making a service member undeployable), then he’s lost our trust. https://t.co/x1TPOonnkO

— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) April 1, 2021

Back in January, Crenshaw told Fox News he thought people should serve openly in the U.S. military and tell people what their identity is. 

“Under Trump, transgender people could serve openly. What was not OK was to get taxpayer-funded gender reassignment surgery. That’s a fairly reasonable policy to have,” he said.

But the Texas congressman said he thinks taxpayer-funded reassignment surgery will hurt the military’s readiness.

“You cannot deploy if you’re not vaccinated or have the proper dental records in place. How are we supposed to deploy people and keep our war-fighting stance and should taxpayers be paying for that?” he asked.

Once she landed the job, Benko was more intent on learning the quirks and mannerisms of the real Fanny Brice on which the musical is based: a comic actress who rose to stardom in the Ziegfeld Follies and fell in love with the slippery gambler and con man Nick Arnstein (played by Ramin Karimloo). Before rehearsals began in February, Benko read biographies of Brice and excerpts from her diaries. She worked with an archivist at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts to watch old footage of Brice doing goofy dances and contorting her face into silly expressions.

“She has an insatiable appetite for the world of the play, for the world of the story,” Brandon Dirden, who taught Benko when she returned to N.Y.U. for graduate school, said of his former student. “She doesn’t leave any stone unturned.”

As Feldstein rehearsed, Benko sat on the sidelines taking notes, recording details about pacing and the intent behind lines of dialogue. After rehearsals ended, Benko would run lines with her husband and musical collaborator, Jason Yeager, in their living room. She sang through the entire score nearly every day to build stamina, and would practice the tap sequences of “Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat” in a full-length mirror, Yeager recalled.

The rehearsals were primarily focused on the main cast, so it wasn’t until the day of her first performance, on April 29, that Benko got to run through a stage rehearsal with costumes, lights and microphones.

When she walked onstage that night, Benko was shocked to be greeted by entrance applause — entrance applause! “It was probably the most thrilling moment of my life,” she said.

She was comfortable with the choreography onstage, but it was the offstage choreography — in particular, the show’s many costume changes — that had been more difficult to practice. The show, which follows Brice from her late teens to her early 30s, packs in four wigs and 21 costumes, 19 of which are quick changes that need to happen in as short as a minute.

‘Good luck on going to the wrong side of Manchester’: New City star Erling Haaland reveals hilarious message he received from ex-United boss and countryman Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, as he hails ‘huge impact’ he had on his career

Erling Haaland has revealed that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer sent him a good luck message following his transfer to Manchester City. 

The 21-year-old moved to the Etihad Stadium last month after the Premier League champions met his £51million release clause at Borussia Dortmund.  

It is the latest chapter in a meteoric rise for Haaland, who made his professional debut for hometown club Bryne in the Norwegian second tier at the age of 15. 

Erling Haaland moved to Manchester City from Borussia Dortmund in a deal worth £51million

Nine months later, the striker moved to top-flight side Molde – managed at the time by Solskjaer.  

Solskjaer is of course a Manchester United legend – despite the way his managerial reign at Old Trafford ended – so he couldn’t resist a cheeky dig when Haaland made the switch to City.  

‘When I signed with City he congratulated me and wrote to me “Good luck on going to the wrong side of Manchester”, Haaland told the Manchester Evening News. 

‘We talk sometimes. As you know, he had a huge impact on my career when I was at Molde. He’s a good guy.’

Haaland moved from Molde to Red Bull Salzburg in 2019 and around the same time it was reported that Solskjaer’s United were keen on signing him. 

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer couldn’t resist a cheeky dig when Haaland completed his move to City

Haaland played under Manchester United legend Solskjaer at Norwegian club Molde  

The 6ft 5in frontman ended up moving on to Borussia Dortmund, where he established himself as one of the hottest players in Europe. He insists that he has no regrets about any of his career choices.  

‘Three years ago City didn’t want me because they had [Sergio] Aguero up front so then there was no choice about coming to Man City,’ Haaland said. 

‘Basically, my feeling was I felt more going to the other place than coming here to England. I could have come here a lot of times in my career but I felt the other place and I think it was a really good choice.

‘I have made perfect choices ever since I went to Molde, then Salzburg and Dortmund. I’m not complaining about that.’

Share or comment on this article:

Erling Haaland reveals hilarious message he received from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after Man City move

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Add your comment

By posting your comment you agree to our house rules.

Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline?

Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual.

Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline?

Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual

We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook.

You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.