U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday directed the Pentagon to extend indefinitely a ban on transgender individuals joining the military, but he appeared to leave open the possibility of allowing some already in uniform to remain. The Obama administration changed longstanding policy in June 2016, declaring that troops could serve openly as transgender individuals. Trump gave Defense Secretary Jim Mattis authority to decide the issue of whether openly transgender troops may continue serving in the military. In his directive to Mattis, Trump said he found that his predecessor's transgender policy was flawed. (Olga R. Rodriguez/Associated Press)Only one year ago, in June 2016, then-Defence Secretary Ash Carter announced that transgender individuals could serve openly for the first time.

Source: CBC News August 26, 2017 01:52 UTC