First transgender woman to be a state senator 0:58
(CNN) -
President Joe Biden signed an executive order Monday to reverse a Trump-era ban on transgender people serving in the military.
The decree "establishes the policy that all Americans who are qualified to serve in the Armed Forces of the United States should be able to serve," according to the White House.
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Biden, the White House said, "believes that gender identity should not be an obstacle to military service, and that America's strength lies in its diversity."
The decree revokes Trump's 2018 presidential memorandum and also confirms the revocation of the presidential memorandum of August 25, 2017.
Biden will meet this morning with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who was confirmed on Friday, along with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
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Some background on the ban
The policy, which has been roundly ridiculed by LGBTQ activists as cruel and irrational, was first announced by Trump in July 2017 via Twitter.
The ban specifically blocks people who have been diagnosed with a condition known as gender dysphoria from serving with limited exceptions.
It also specifies that people without the condition can serve, but only if they do so according to the sex they were assigned at birth.
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While Trump had argued that transgender troops in the military would cause "enormous medical costs and disruption," a 2016 study by Rand Corp. commissioned by the Defense Department found that allowing transgender people to serve openly would have "minimal impact." in preparation and health care costs.
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