Eight transgender people have applied to serve in the U.S. Air Force, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
The transgender volunteers are the first known to have filled out paperwork to join the Air Force since Jan. 1, USA Today reported. However, the Air Force reiterated that even more transgender people may have spoken to recruiters.
“It’s important to recognize that the eight includes applicants who filled out some kind of paperwork at their respective recruiting stations, not necessarily all transgender applicants who have called or walked into recruiting stations, or inquired about joining the service,” Capt. Kathleen Atanasoff, a spokeswoman for the Air Force, told USA Today in an email.
In July, President Trump announced a new policy banning transgender people from serving in the military “in any capacity.” But last year, federal courts blocked the transgender ban from taking effect and required the Pentagon to start accepting transgender applicants at the beginning of the year.
The military issued guidance in December on how transgender applicants would be processed for military service and began accepting transgender recruits Jan. 1. The first step to serving in the military before becoming a recruit is completing the paperwork.
Transgender applicants must be “stable in their preferred gender” for 18 consecutive months in order to qualify to serve, according to the Pentagon’s guidance.
Nicolas Talbott, a 24-year-old who is a transgender plaintiff in one of the cases challenging Trump’s transgender ban, said at the beginning of the month he spoke with a recruiter and was working to complete enlistment paperwork.
Talbott, who began transitioning into a man in 2012, had previously been working with a recruiter for the Air National Guard.
