Alexandra Marberry, after graduating from the Naval Academy, became one of the nation's first transgender women allowed to transition while serving in the military.
More than two years later, Marberry is fighting the Navy to clear her record of sexual misconduct she maintains she did not commit. She believes she was targeted for being transgender.
The Department of Defense announced Dec. 11 that it will again allow transgender applicants to join the military starting Jan. 1, 2018, on the heels of a new court ruling against President Donald Trump’s announced ban on transgender service members.
On Tuesday evening, Secretary of Defense James Mattis released a statement saying that transgender service members will be permitted to remain in the armed forces until a study can be conducted on "military readiness, lethality, and unit cohesion, with due regard for budgetary constraints and consistent with applicable law."
President Donald Trump has been sued again over his plan to ban transgender Americans from serving in the military, setting the stage for another bruising court battle over a directive from the White House.
President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. military on Friday to reject openly transgender people as new recruits but authorized Defense Secretary James Mattis to decide how to handle transgender personnel already serving in the armed forces.
