In a string of unexpected tweets, President Trump announced that after consulting with his top military leadership, the transgender policy for the military would be reversed and the US government no longer be accepting transgender service members in the military.

On June 30th, one day before the implementation of transgender policy that was initiated while President Obama was in office was to to take effect, Secretary of Defense Mattis put on a six month hold on it in order “to evaluate more carefully the impact of such accessions on readiness and lethality.”

Since becoming the Secretary of Defense, I have emphasized that the Department of Defense must measure each policy decision against one critical standard: will the decision affect the readiness and lethality of the force?” Mattis said last month in a statement. “Put another way, how will the decision affect the ability of America’s military to defend the nation? It is against this standard that I provide the following guidance on the way forward in accessing transgender individuals into the military Services.”- SECDEF Mattis

According to a RAND Corporation study, this decision will effect up to an estimated 11,000 transgender service members currently serving in the US military. The DoD has not commented on how or if the military will discharge transgender service members currently serving.

Featured image courtesy of AP