Officials: Pentagon to Lift Ban on Transgender Service Members Soon

The Department of Defense is expected to announce within weeks that transgender men and women will be allowed to openly serve in the military, several Pentagon officials tell NBC News.

Secretary of Defense Ash Carter could make the announcement as early as next week; he is expected to call for full implementation in one year.

The details of the repeal could shift. One defense official told NBC News that the working group that has been studying this issue since July 2015 will provide broad guidance.

It will be up to the individual services to work out the details. Those details include barracks, rules for new recruits, allowance for sex reassignment surgery, diagnosis of dysmorphic disorder, policies on group showers and more.

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