[JURIST] Department of Defense (DOD) [official website] officials said on Friday that the Pentagon will announce the repeal of its ban on openly transgender service members on July 1. Each branch of the US Armed Forces will be adopting policies [USA Today report] that cover recruiting, housing, and uniforms for transgender service members, according to the official. Transgender troops are disqualified for medical reasons and figures for how many troops have been dismissed are unavailable. However, under current policies, transgender service members have still managed to join the military by keeping their status concealed [NYT report]. There are an estimated 2,000 to 15,000 transgender troops serving [Guardian report] in the military and it is also estimated that 65 service members seek to make a gender transition every year.

Transgender peoples’ access to basic civil liberties has been a controversial topic and has created a wave of legislative and judicial actions. This week, a judge ordered [JURIST report] a Virginia school board to allow transgender students to use the restroom that corresponds with their gender identity. This month, a judge from Multnomah County Circuit Court in Oregon ruled [JURIST report] that an individual’s gender could be legally changed from female to non-binary.” Also this month, a US magistrate judge issued [JURIST report] an order requiring California prions to provide transgender inmates who identify as female access to female-oriented items to which inmates have access in women’s correctional facilities.