Naval Academy to ban transgender students starting in 2020
The U.S. Naval Academy will prohibit transgender students from enrolling at the school starting in fall 2020.
The academy currently allows transgender students but will be forced to comply with the Trump administration’s new transgender military policy that went into effect Friday, the Capital Gazette reported.
{mosads}Transgender students enrolled for the fall 2019 school year will be covered by the previous policy, which allowed transgender students to serve openly, Defense Department spokeswoman Jessica Maxwell told the newspaper.
A Pentagon spokesperson referred inquiries to the Naval Academy.
“Our understanding is that the policy will go into effect for those students applying to enter the Naval Academy in 2020, beginning with the Class of 2024,” a Naval Academy spokesperson told The Hill in a statement.
The new policy will prevent most transgender people from serving in the military unless they serve under their biological sex. The Department of Defense (DOD) has said the new policy is not a ban on transgender personnel.
“I would reiterate that the department will continue to treat all individuals with dignity and respect, and every service member is able to express their gender identity,” Maxwell told The Hill in an email Friday. “DOD will take no action solely based on gender identity.”
Transgender troops have been serving openly since 2016, when then-president Obama lifted a previous ban.
Updated at 5:08 p.m.
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