US President Donald Trump signs new transgender military ban

US President Trump has signed a memorandum that bans some transgender people from US military service but rolls back the blanket ban he ordered last year.

The new directive adopts recommendations from Defence Secretary Jim Mattis that "transgender persons who require or have undergone gender transition" cannot serve.

But it gives the Pentagon and other agencies some discretion in the matter.

The earlier blanket ban was blocked by federal judges.

The new memorandum says that transgender individuals with a history of gender dysphoria are barred from military service "except under certain limited circumstances".

Gender dysphoria

• The experience of distress or discomfort as a result of a disparity between a person's biological sex (assigned at birth) and what they feel their gender to be
• Also referred to as transgenderism, gender incongruence or GID (gender identity disorder)
• The exact causes are unclear. In some cases hormones that trigger biological sex development may function differently and there are rare conditions such as intersex
• Treatment is also varied and aims to reduce the distress. The individual may dress or live in the preferred gender or undergo surgery and hormone treatment to change appearance
• Gender dysphoria remains rare but is increasing, with greater public awareness