The Pentagon on Wednesday announced policy updates regarding transgender people serving in the military, to align with President Joe Biden’s executive orders issued earlier this year. The updated policies prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity, including a person’s self-identification as transgender; allow people to serve in the military in their self-identified gender, as long as certain standards are met; and allow service members to access gender transition medical procedures, which would be funded by the department, according to press secretary John Kirby at a briefing on Wednesday. Stephanie Miller, the DOD’s military accession policy director, said that depending on previous studies, the number of service members who self-identify as transgender could range from 1,000 to 8,000, which includes those who may not seek a partial or full medical transition. She said that there are about 2,200 service members diagnosed with gender dysphoria and are seeking gender transition medical procedures. The …