Military chiefs seek transgender policy delay

Name: WORLD
Price range: $

Military leaders will ask Defense Secretary Jim Mattis for a six-month delay in deploying new rules for allowing transgender Americans to join the service. The Army and Air Force reportedly wanted a two-year wait, but the chiefs feared that request would generate too much opposition on Capitol Hill. Transgender service members can already serve openly in the military, but the Obama administration gave leaders until July 1 to develop policies for recruiting, housing, and uniforms for transgender troops. Under the policy-change directive, a recruit’s transgender status is not supposed to prevent service, as long as he or she can meet physical and other standards.

We Sift the news so you don’t have to.

Leigh Jones

Leigh is features editor for WORLD. She is a World Journalism Institute graduate who spent six years as a newspaper reporter in Texas before joining WORLD News Group. Leigh also co-wrote Infinite Monster: Courage, Hope, and Resurrection in the Face of One of America's Largest Hurricanes. She resides with her husband and daughter in Houston, Texas.