Trump frequently promised to take such action on the campaign trail and signed off on a similar ban in 2017. The order, “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,” rescinds President Joe Biden’s order that allowed trans people to enlist and permitted already enlisted trans service members to receive coverage for transition-related medical care.
“It is the policy of the United States Government to establish high standards for troop readiness, lethality, cohesion, honesty, humility, uniformity, and integrity,” the current order states. “This policy is inconsistent with the medical, surgical, and mental health constraints on individuals with gender dysphoria. This policy is also inconsistent with shifting pronoun usage or use of pronouns that inaccurately reflect an individual’s sex.”
During Trump’s first term, the administration categorized trans service members as exempt and nonexempt: Exempt meant they were already out as trans and could continue serving as such; nonexempt meant they came out after the policy and would have to serve as the gender they were assigned at birth. Openly trans people were also prohibited from enlisting.
At the time, the administration insisted the policy was not a “trans military ban” since it allowed service members to apply for a waiver. But, according to NBC News, only one waiver was ever publicly reported on.
Under the order, the Defense Department—led by the newly-appointed Defense Secretary (and accused rapist and abuser), Pete Hegseth—must update its military medical standards within 60 days, “end invented and identification-based pronoun usage” and bar people assigned male at birth from using any facilities designated for women. The fate of service members who are already receiving transition-related care through Tricare, the military’s health care program, is currently unclear.
“To ensure we have the most lethal fighting force in the world, we will get transgender ideology the hell out of our military,” Trump told reporters on Monday. “It’s going to be gone.”
Further, Trump contested that any service by troops who identify as a gender that is different from their biological one “conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life.”
Fortunately, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law) and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) have already sued. The federal lawsuit, Talbott v. Trump, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, on equal protection grounds for six active service members and two individuals seeking enlistment. The first six plaintiffs serve across all branches of the military and include a Major, a Captain, a Sergeant, and a Navy Pilot.
“When you put on the uniform, differences fall away and what matters is your ability to do the job,” Nicolas Talbott, Second Lieutenant, Army said in a statement accompanying the suit. “Every individual must meet the same objective and rigorous qualifications in order to serve. It has been my dream and my goal to serve my country for as long as I can remember. My being transgender has no bearing on my dedication to the mission, my commitment to my unit, or my ability to perform my duties in accordance with the high standards expected of me and every servicemember.”
“I’ve spent more than half my life in the Army, including combat in Afghanistan,” another plaintiff and a sergeant in the army, identified as Kate Cole, added. “Removing qualified transgender soldiers like me means an exodus of experienced personnel who fill key positions and can’t be easily replaced, putting the burden on our fellow soldiers left behind. That’s just wrong—and it destabilizes our armed forces.”
Notably, GLAD Law and NCLR were among those who led the legal fight against Trump’s first transgender military ban in 2017, and several federal courts found the first ban to be unconstitutional. As a result, it didn’t take effect for two years. Lambda Legal and Human Rights Campaign, who also represented transgender troops against the first ban, said, they too, were prepared to sue on Monday.
In addition to the trans ban, Trump signed an executive order to establish a process to develop what the administration is calling an “American Iron Dome” aka a shield that defends against missiles. The proposed system got its name from Israel’s system for intercepting rockets, “Iron Dome” which was established with U.S. backing. Of course.
A third order would reinstate the roughly 8,200 military members who were previously discharged for forgoing the covid-19 vaccine. And a fourth bans the use of race- or sex-based preferences not just in the military, but in the Defense Department and the Homeland Security Department. Under the order, the defense secretary and homeland security secretary are to eliminate any existing diversity and inclusion and “gender ideologies” in the curriculum at the service academies and other academic institutions.
“I ordered the end to all of the lawless diversity, equity and inclusion nonsense policies across the government and all across the private sector and the military,” Trump said. “We’re getting it out and we’ve gotten it out pretty much. We did that in one week, and it wasn’t that easy, but everybody wanted it.”
