US Navy

Navy Grants Waiver Allowing Transgender Sailor to Serve Openly

The service member, known only as Jane Doe, will be permitted to serve in accordance with her gender identity, as opposed to her sex assigned at birth

Naval Academy Graduation
Patrick Semansky/AP

For the first time, the U.S. Navy has granted a waiver to allow a transgender sailor to continue her military service despite the president’s ban on transgender people serving openly in the armed forces, NBC News reports.

Attorneys for the sailor and a spokesperson for Navy Secretary James E. McPherson confirmed earlier this week that senior government officials had approved the waiver. Navy spokesperson Brittany Stephens said the sailor, known only as "Jane Doe" in media reports and court documents, “requested a waiver to serve in their preferred gender” and will be “allowed to adhere to standards associated with their preferred gender, such as uniforms and grooming,” according to CNN, which was the first to report on the waiver.

SPART*A, an organization that advocates for transgender service members, said in a statement that the organization is “ecstatic” about the Navy’s announcement, hoping it could pave the way for more transgender people to serve openly in the armed forces.

“I am hopeful that this is the first of many,” said SPART*A President Emma Shinn, “but the fight is far from over.”

Read the full story at NBCNews.com

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